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FROM   THE  LIBRARY  OF 
REV.   LOUIS    FITZGERALD    BENSON.  D.  D 

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PRINCETON  T      ZOLOGICAL   SEMINARY 


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in  2012  with  funding  from 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


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CEMETERY-ROAD  CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCH. 

BUILT  IN  CONNECTION  WITH  THE  REV,  BREW1N   GRANT'S 
EFFORTS  TO  FOUND  A  MISSION  CHURCH. 


THE  /<$>  ' 

v  (      JAN  22  1933  "'• 

DISSENTING  WORLD:  ^ 

AN  AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 

// 
BY  THE  REV.  BREWIN  GRANT,  B.A, 

Congregational  Minister  of  Twenty-five  Years'  Standing. 


"  Some  of  the  Pharisees  said  unto  Him: — ■  Are  we  blind  also  V 
(John  ix.  40.) 


"  Tile  igitur  numquam  direxit  braehia  contra 

"  Torrentem  :    nee  civii  erat,  qui  libera  posset 

'•  Verba  animi  proferre,  et  vitam  impendere  vero."— Jdvenalis  Sat  iv. 

"  Sapienter  vitam  instituit  namq  ;    hoe  tempore 

"  Obsequium  amicos,  Veritas  odium,  parit." — Tkbentii  Andbia. 


THIRD     EDITION,     WITH     PORTRAIT. 


NEW    YOEK: 
THE     AMERICAN     NEWS     COMPANY, 

119  &  121,  Nassau  Street. 
1869. 


THE  DISSENTING  WORLD :    AN  AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 


ADDRESS   TO   THE    READER. 


"When  I  began  this  life  I  did  not  know  how  it  would  end. 

A  critical  lady  posed  me  at  Christmas  with  the  question — How  I  should  put 
an  end  to  my  life  ?  The  assumption  being  that  I  ought  not  to  conclude  with  a 
semicolon,  like  the  one  described  by  T.  Carlyle,  who  died  with  an  unfinished 
sentence onhis  lips — "  Aber  "  "  But," — 

Indeed,  as  even  a  novel  requires  a  catastrophe  to  render  it  absorbing,  something 
of  this  kind  seemed  required  to  put  a  period  to  my  Autobiography. 

This  was  provided  by  the  officials  of  the  Congregational  Union,  by  an  act 
which  Dr.  Parker  described  to  the  Assembly  of  that  Union,  in  Sheffield, 
186G,  as  "  amounting  to  ministerial  deposition  ;  in  fact,  a  species  of 
excommunication,  and  fraught  with  the  gravest  consequences  to  indi- 
vidual ministers." 

That  act  was  "the  removal  of  a  name"  from  the  list  of  accredited  Con- 
gregational Ministers,  which,  so  far  as  can  be  done  by  the  Union,  deprives  the 
minister  of  status  and  usefulness,  and  his  children  of  bread.  If  at  the  time  when 
the  axe  falls  he  is  out  of  a  pastorate,  as  I  am,  it  is  next  to  impossible  to  get  into 
one  again.  His  reputation  is  gnawn  at,  and  his  persecutors  are  bound  to  malign 
him  in  honour  to  themselves,  as  their  only  safe  and  consistent  course  :  and  all 
that  is  said,  like  all  that  is  done,  is,  "  What  the  ancients  of  the  house  of  Israel 
do  in  the  dark."  (Ez.  viii.  12.) 

As  the  Kev.  Dr.  Falding,  of  Rotherham  College,  observed  of  a  similar  case — in 
which  he  was  accused  by  the  editor  of  the  Year  Book  of  being  the  executioner, 
— though  this  term  is  properly  applied  to  one  who  acts  by  legal  authority — •'  The 
other  side  of  this  case  had  never  been  made  public."  The  reason  for  avoiding 
publicity  is  founded  on  a  text  of  Scripture : — John  iii.  20. 

I  was  not  aware  that  this  act  had  been  perpetrated,  at  the  very  time  I  was 
asked  what  end  I  should  put  to  my  life  ? 

I  learned  my  ministerial  execution  by  obtaining,  through  the  post,  a  copy  o 
the  "  Congregational  Year  Book  for  1869." 

It  was  a  secret  execution  by  the  Congregational  Inquisition — it  executed 
Congregationalism. 

If  any  should  wonder  that  I  place  my  death  before  my  life,  the  answer  is — 
that  this  is  the  style  of  the  noble  army  of  martyrs. 

Undoubtedly  it  is  in  every  sense  reversing  the  ordinary  course  of  events,  and 
contrary  to  the  usual  literary  construction  of  a  book,  which  should  leave  the 


IV.  ADDRESS  TO  THE  READER. 

interest  to  accumulate  to  the  end,  to  see  "  how  it  will  turn  out."  But  then  it 
may  awaken  a  new  sort  of  interest,  namely,  the  curiosity  to  learn  why  it  should 
turn  out  so  ? 

The  reader  is  therefore  requested  to  examine  the  course  of  my  life,  in  order 
to  account  for  the  manner  of  my  death.  Providentially  my  passport  has  been 
viseed, — examined  and  signed  as  correct, — at  every  frontier  through  which  I 
have  passed  in  the  tour  of  this  world. 

Living  witnesses  and  documentary  evidence  can  be  adduced  for  every  fact 
alleged  in  this  history.  If  any  shall  say  that  it  is  egotistical  they  must  consider 
that  this  is  an  Autobiography,  and  that  wherein  I  am  praised  it  is  generally  by 
others,  and  therefore  is  not  properly  to  be  charged  with  this  sin  ;  though  in  "self- 
defence  one  may  defend  one's  self. 

The  highest  praise  is  that  afforded  by  my  enemies  in  the  "  removal  of  my 
name  from  the  list  of  accredited  Congregational  ministers  ;  "  since  it  not  only 
acknowledged  that  I  could  not  be  answered,  but  that  I  was  important  enough  to 
be  persecuted,  and  that  it  was  necessary  to  silence  me  by  the  only  possible 
process,  that  described  by  De  Foe,  whose  life  is  very  much  like  mine,  for  he 
lived  in  the  same  collision  of  interests,  and  was  treated  as  all  wits  are  by  dull 
people ;  his  defences  of  Dissent  and  Protestantism  against  the  astute- 
ness of  Jesuits  and  the  simplicity  of  Dissenters,  were  sometimes  resented  by 
those  who,  being  blind,  were  also  unwilling  to  be  defended  and  guided  by  a  man 
who  could  see. 

"  He  saw  the  men  who  could  not  answer  Algernon  Sydney's  Book  erect  a 
scaffold  to  take  off  his  head."  • 

It  was  truly  said  of  James  the  Second — "  His  unwearied  sole  endeavour 
was  to  establish  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  in  England.  When  the  church 
that  had  declared  resistance  unchristian"  did  resist,  "  The  dissenters  became 
his  hope.  If  he  could  array  dissent  against  the  church  there  was  an  entrance 
yet  for  Rome."  This  is  Rome's  only  door  still — in  the  name  of  liberty  and 
equality — which  she  waits  to  destroy.  "  De  Foe  understood  both  game  and 
gambler.  "We  could  name  no  man  of  the  time  who  understood  them  so  clearly 
as  this  young  trader  of  Cornhill.  He  saw  the  false  position  of  all  parties,  the 
blundering  clash  of  interests,  the  wily  complications  of  policy."*  "  He  exposed 
the  conduct  of  the  King,  as  in  plain  words  a  fraudulent  project  to  create  a  feud 
between  Dissenters  and  the  Establishment,  and  so  to  destroy  both  in  the  end." 

"  This  advice  and  warning  were  urged  in  two  masterly  publications.  The  Dis- 
senters condemned  them  and  took  every  occasion  to  disclaim  their  author. 
De  Foe  had  looked  for  no  less."  He  said,  "  He  that  will  serve  men  must 
not  promise  himself  that  he  shall  not  anger  them.  I  have  been  exercised  in 
this  usage  even  from  a  youth.  I  had  their  reproaches  when  I  blamed  their 
credulity  and  confidence  in  the  flatteries  and  caresses  of  Popery,  and  when  I 
protested  against  addresses  of  thanks  for  an  illegal  liberty  of  conscience 
founded  on  a  dispensing  power."  "  He  was  thus  early  initiated  in  the  transcendant 
art  of  thinking  and  standing  alone.  Whosoever  can  do  this  manfully  will  find 
himself  least  disposed  to  be  alone  when  any  great  good  thing  is  in  progress. 
De  Foe  would  have  worked  with  the  meanest  men  opposed  to  him  in  the  busi- 
ness of  the  nation's  deliverance."  * 


*  Edinburgh  Review,  October  1845. 


Broomhall  Park,  Sheffield,  October, 


CONTENTS 


PAGE. 

Chapter  i. — Birth   and   Training,   up   to   getting   ready   for 

College,  1821-1837  9 

Chapter  ii. — Preparing  for  and  going  to  College,  1838-43    ..     15 

Chapter  iii. — Studying  for,  and  at  Glasgow  University,  first 

session,  1843-4 26 

Chapter    iv. — Summer    vacation    and    Second     Session    at 

Glasgow  University,  1844-5         ...         ...         ...         ...     39 

Chapter  v. — The   opening   Campaign    of    Life — Seeking    a 

"  Settlement,"  1845-7      55 

Chapter  vi. — Removal  to  Birmingham,  and  acquaintance  with 

Dr.  Newman  and  his  Three  Shams,  1848-52      61 

Chapter  vii. — "A  great  door  and  effectual  is  opened  to  me" 
for  a  three  years'  "  Mission  to  the  Working  Classes ;" 
recommended  by  the  Rev.  John  Angell  James,  sup- 
ported by  Samuel  Morley,  Esq.,  but  contrary  to  the 
express  desire  of  Mr.  G.  J.  Holyoake,  1650-54 65 

Chapter  viii. — Method  of  conducting  my  three  years'  Mission, 

with  specimens  of  Infidel  Questions  and  Christian  Answers     75 


VI. 

Chapter  ix. — Discussion  with  Mr.  George  Jacob  Holyoake, 

in  Cowper-street,  London,  1852  ...         ...         ...         ...     81 

Chapter  x. — The  'Rivulet'    Controversy:    "What's    it    all 

about?"  1855-6 ' 96 

Chapter  xi. — What  is  negative  Theology,  and  what  does  it 
lead  to  ?.  or,  the.  Transition  period  from  "  Baptism  in  the 
Rivulet"  to  New  College  "Christian  Faith,"  1856         ...  109 

Chapter  xii. — The  Glasgow  Debate  and  its  Lectures,  1854  ...  119 

Chapter  xiii. — Candidating  .for  a  re-settlement  at  the  close  of 

my  public  Mission — Letters  of  Commendation,  1856     ...  130 

Chapter  xiv.— The  midnight  Telegram — Our  first  Disappoint- 
ment— Our  first  great  Sorrow — and  Settlement  in  Sheffield, 
1856-7       ... 147 

Chapter    xv. — "The    Rescue    of    Faith"— "New   College" 

Theology— The  Godwin  Controversy,  1862         153 

Chapter  xvi. — The  Commotion  in  the  Patriot  Office,  and  a 
Council  of  War  to  put  down  criticism  ;  or,  the  Revenge 
for  the  "  Rescue  of  Faith  "         171 

Chapter  xvii. — The  Patriot  Office  barricaded  and  forced  ;  or, 

calumny  deferring  to  Law  ...  ...  ...  ...   178 

Chapter  xviii. — What   I   said  when  I  got  into  the  Patriot 

Office — Vindicatory  Letter  185 


Vll. 

Chapter  xix. — The  Atheist  and  the  Patriot  —  The  new 
Evangelical  Alliance  ;  or,  how  the  Editor  tried  to  get  out 
of  it  189 

Chapter  xx. — What  is  the  Congregational  Union  ;  its  pro- 
fessed Constitution  and  Objects    ...  ...  ...  ...   191 

Chapter  xxi.— The  Absolutism    of  Union  Officials,  and   the 

power  of  Arbitrary  Ministerial  Decapitation  ...  ...   197 

Chapter  xxii. — The  Congregational  Union  Meetings  in  Shef- 
field, 18GG 205 

Chapter  xxiii. — The  Committee  assumes  absolute  Dictatorship 

over  the  Union  and  the  Denomination      ...  ...  ...  213 

Chapter  xxiv. — Dr.  Smith's  Recantation  of  his  answer  to  me 
about  the  Year  Book  ;  and  the  Committee's  two  now 
Shuffles      225 

Chapter  xxy. — The  Cherrytree  Orphanage    ...  ...  ...   232 

Chapter  xxvi. —Building  the  Congregational  Church,  Cemetery 
road,  and  Resignation  of  my  charge  for  a  Temporary 
Public  Ministry,  for  Special  Sunday  Services,  and  Week- 
night  Lectures,  against  Ritualism,  Rationalism,  and 
Romanism  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...   235 

Chapter  xxvii. — The    Rev.    General   Picton,    B.A.,   and    his 

Leicester  Brigade  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...   246 


Till. 

Chapter  xxviii. — What  Mr.  Gladstone  said  of  me,  and  -what  I 

said  in  reply  to  him  ...  ...  ...         ...  ...  250 

Chapter  xxix. — The  Unpardonable  Sin  ...         ...         ...  256 

Chapter  xxx. — Wherein  Dissenters  have  been  misled;  wherein 
they  are  in  danger  of  being  used  for  what  they  dislike  : 
and  how  they  are  losing  the  moral  power  to  oppose  it    ...  267 

Chapter  xxxi. — Kev.  Dr.  Falding,  District  Secretary  ...  273 

VENVOl        282 

Appendix — The  Trial  of  the  Congregational  Unionists  before 

the  Spiritual  Trades-Union  Outrage  Commission    286a...  287 

Concluding  Chapter. — Summary  of  Kesults  :   showing  the 
Kapid  Progress  of  Independents  in  the  Abandonment  of 

THEIR  PRINCIPLES ECCLESIASTICAL,  POLITICAL  AND  THEO- 
LOGICAL :  solving  all  difficulties  by  holding  all  opinions 
in  solution,  that  in  this  suspensory  state  they  may  lead 

the  Liberal  Thought  of  the  Age 364 


THE    DISSENTING    WOULD 

AN    AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 


Chapter  I. 

BIRTH  AND  TRAINING,  UP  TO  GETTING  BEADY 

FOR  COLLEGE,  1821-1837. 

Taking  the  south  side  of  Leicester  as  the  starting  point  and 
travelling  on  by  Aylestone  and  Blaby,  continuing  the  journey  some 
six  miles  in  all,  we  arrive  at  the  village  of  Countesthorpe,  at  least  it 
was  a  village  then,  when  I  was  born  in  it,  on  the  3rd  of  April,  1821. 

As  it  now  lies  pictured  in  my  memory  you  would  enter  by  the 
"  Horse  road"  at  "Little  End,"  where  the  village  roughs  "did 
congregate."  Passing  down  the  main  street,  which  was  rather 
zigzag  in  the  first  part,  you  would  find,  at  that  time,  on  the  right, 
a  place  called,  not  originally  out  of  respect,  the  "  Ranter's  Chapel," 
and  on  the  other,  nearly  opposite,  a  public  house ;  the  first  bend  to 
the  right  a  little  further  on,  would  bring  you  to  the  "  Meeting;"  at 
the  top  of  that  lane  or  road  was  an  open  square,  by  the  side  of  which 
was  a  school  and  the  "  Church." 

This  square  is  marked  in  my  recollection  by  a  "Plough  Monday" 
scene.  On  that  day  the  labourers  on  the  adjacent  farms  visited 
the  chief  inhabitants  for  "  Plough  Monday"  contributions  ;  they 
were  dressed  in  "  mummer"  fashion,  the  plough  was  drawn  by 
some  of  the  company,  driven  by  a  plough-boy,  to  the  thong  of  whose 
whip  was  attached  a  blown  bladder,  containing  peas,  which  fre- 
quently rattled  on  the  backs  of  the  yokels. 

I  was  astonished  to  see  "  the  causeway''  at  the  front  of  one  of 
the  houses  rise  like  waves  under  the  ploughshare ;  the  inhabitant 
of  that  house  was  a  small  manufacturer,  and  had  no  sympathy  with 
the  agricultural  interest;  the  dislocation  of  his  pebbles  was  the 
magnificent  revenge  of  the  plough  boys,  for  disloyalty  to  their 
leader,  who  seemed  to  me  to  be  not  inferior  to  the  Caliph  of  Bagdad, 
either  in  power  or  splendour. 

We  must  however  not  stop  at  the  comer  of  this  square,  but  turn 
to  the  left  if  we  are  to  reach  the  cottage  in  which  I  was  born.  The 
church-yard  on  our  right  hand  as  we  pass  down  the  street,  is 
marked  by  another  circumstance  still  more  peculiar. — On  winter 
nights,  when  the  snow  lay  lightly  on  the  earth,  greyhounds  were 

B 


10 

distinctly  seen  in  the  dark  leaping  over  the  gravestones,  and  gam- 
boling round  the  church ;  but  if  you  looked  in  the  morning,  even 
though  there  had  not  been  a  new  fall  of  snow  to  cover  up  the  marks, 
not  a  trace  of  a  footstep  could  be  seen  ;  from  which  sign,  or  absence 
of  one,  it  was  rationally  inferred  that  the  greyhounds  were  ghosts. 

As  we  pass  along,  still  to  the  left,  we  come  after  some  distance 
to  the  turn  of  the  main  road  to  the  right,  emerging  out  of  the 
village ;  the  short  straight  lane  affording  this  outlet  is  formed  on 
one  side  by  the  ba,cks  of  cottages,  which  have  gardens  in  front  in  a 
sort  of  enclosure,  and  the  other  side  is  formed  by  farmer  Hall's 
house  and  barn  walls. 

This  lane  is  marked  in  my  memory  by  two  occurrences ;  the  first 
is,  that  some  persons  having  praised  my  facility  in  reading,  one  of 
the  young  ladies  at  tins  farm  house  seeing  me  pass  with  a  Testa- 
ment in  my  hand,  put  me  to  read  some  chapter,  and  charmed  with 
my  juvenile  fluency  in  that  exercise, — for  one  who  could  read  was 
a  "  scholard"  in  those  days, — called  her  father  to  witness  the  feat 
of  an  "  infant  phenomenon.''  The  old  gentleman  was  "  not  to  be 
caught  with  chaff,"  and  suspecting  that  I  was  reciting  instead  of 
reading,  turned  over  to  a  new  place,  and  when  I  gabbled  through  the 
selected  portion  with  equal  readiness — reading  faster  than  he  could 
talk — it  nearly  took  his  breath  away,  and  he  dismissed  me  with  a 
eulogium  and  an  apple.  When  I  told  my  father  of  the  old  gentle- 
man's scepticism  and  the  test  to  which  I  was  put,  he  laughed 
immoderately,  after  saying  "so  he  thought  you  could  not  read  in 
another  place,  my  boy  !" 

The  second  circumstance  that  distinguishes  this  lane  in  my  recol- 
lection, is,  that  of  being  set  with  other  children  with  knobsticks 
to  strike  at  any  rats  which  a  ferret  might  drive  out  of  a  hole  in  the 
barn  wall,  when  instead  of  a  rat  the  ferret's  nose  protruded  and  was 
rudely  greeted.  The  poor  creature  was  astonished,  and  we  were 
rebuked  for  this  sin  of  ignorant  zeal. 

Passing  out  of  this  lane  we  come  into  the  country,  the  debouchure 
being  a  wide  "  horse-road,"  that  passed  round  by  some  orchards  on 
one  side  and  fields  on  the  other.  This  was  the  Peatling  road, 
leading  to  that  village.  If  instead  of  turning  down  that  road  to  the 
left,  we  go  straight  on,  we  come  to  a  lane  at  a  right  angle  with  it, 
and  at  the  head  of  this  lane  are  two  or  three  cottages  standing  by 
themselves,  in  the  middle  one  of  which  I  was  born.  Not  far  from 
this  was  a  horse-pond,  with  brick-built  sides,  for  the  benefit  of  such 
as  drove  or  rode  into  the  village  by  the  high  road  just  mentioned. 
I  remember  that  pond  by  having  fallen  into  it  when  playing  on  the 
sides;  I  was  fished  out  once  by  the  "  Thirdboro,"  a  sort  of  con- 


11 

stable,  and  carried  home  dripping  but  not  quite  drowned.  As  I  was 
going  through  the  process  of  being  stripped,  my  socks  were  adhe- 
sive, and  I  slided  from  the  stool  to  the  ground,  which  made  a 
serious  impression  on  my  memory. 

Opposite  to  our  house  were  the  fields  alongside  the  Peatling  road, 
separated  from  us  by  the  head  of  the  lane,  a  dyke,  and  a  hedge, 
and  entered  by  a  broad  flat  stone  or  slate  across  the  dyke,  on  the 
other  side  of  which  was  the  stile  and  a  foot  road.  It  was  the 
general  opinion  in  those  days,  that  certain  bogies  or  kelpies  lodged 
or  lurked  in  the  evening  under  bridges  and  such  like  stones  ;  and 
therefore,  though  I  could  very  bravely  cross  this  flatstone  in  the  day- 
time, it  required  some  courage  and  a  quick  pace  even  to  pass  it  at 
dusk  when  going  home  alone.  This  however  was  a  part  of  my 
outside  and  not  of  my  cottage  education. 

The  rustic  lane  is  rendered  familiar  by  the  circumstance  of  the 
whole  village  coming  out  for  several  evenings  by  our  cottage,  to 
hear  the  nightingale,  which  gave  a  concert  in  that  direction. 

It  was  at  last  determined  by  some  of  the  baser  sort  to  kill  or 
catch  this  songster,  which  had  charmed  so  many, — a  thing  which 
sometimes  happens  in  principle  in  the  larger  world,  from  ingrati- 
tude and  enwy.  A  process  called  "  yaeking"  was  resorted  to,  a 
nocturnal  exercise  in  which  a  number  went  on  each  side  of  a  hedge, 
some  carrying  a  lantern  to  confuse  the  birds,  and  all  armed  with 
stones  to  throw  at  any  that  appeared.  It  was  said  that  one 
person  lamed  the  nightingale,  and  by  the  more  respectable  and 
moral  of  the  villagers  he  was  considered  to  have  committed  a  great  sin, 
for  by  a  superstition  which  takes  the  place  of  virtue,  the  nightingale 
was  regarded  as  sacred,  whatever  was  allowed  as  to  other  birds. 

The  alleged  perpetrator  of  this  outrage  was  therefore  looked  upon 
as  having  reached  the  climax  of  wickedness ;  but  when  everybody 
had  given  him  up,  he  got  converted  by  the  "  Ranters,"  whose  reli- 
gion, though  not  so  quiet  and  respectable  and  theologically  intelli- 
gent as  ours,  was  more  efficient  for  rougher  work.  Many  rumours 
ran  through  the  village  as  to  the  difficulty  of  getting  this  sinner  on 
his  knees,  to  accomplish  which,  physical  force  and  moral  suasion 
were  said  to  have  been  energetically  and  successfully  applied.  I 
believe  that  what  were  then  called  "  Ranters,"  from  their  liveliness 
and  loudness,  are  now  called  Primitive  Methodists,  and  I  hope  they 
will  never  become  so  respectable  and  quiet  as  to  forget  their  original 
fervour  and  zeal. 

My  father  and  mother  were  attendants  at  the  "  Meeting,"  and 
were  "members  of  the  church"  worshipping  in  it.  "  We  lads"  all  of 
b  2 


12 

course  attended  and  were  in  the  Sunday  School.  There  were  other 
villages  not  far  off,  to  which  the  respective  parties  attending  the 
''Meeting" — which  was  a  "  Union"  place,  comprehending  Indepen- 
dents and  Baptists, — went  to  worship  on  special  occasions,  the 
Baptists  I  believe  to  Arnsby,  and  the  Independents  to  Wigston.  I 
can  distinctly  remember  crossing  the  fields  trotting  after  my  father 
as  we  trudged  over  to  that  village  for  some  Sunday  service. 

My  father  was  a  great  admirer  of  the  Rev.  Robert  Hall,  the 
deservedly  famous  Baptist  minister,  and  often  talked  to  us  of  that 
strange  eloquence  which  charmed  so  many,  saying  how  he  was 
"  lost  and  wrapt  and  absorbed  in  his  subject." 

I  just  remember  the  minister  who  baptized  me,  though  not  the 
occasion  of  that  service  ;  he  was  a  mild,  intelligent,  kindly  looking 
gentleman,  named  Hunter,  I  believe,  and  probably  was  the  Wigston 
minister,  occasionally  visiting  his  Countesthorpe  flock,  which  at  the 
"  Meeting"  had  not  the  advantage  of  a  "settled  minister,"  but  was 
"  supplied"  by  lay  preachers  generally. 

My  father  however  was  the  priest  of  his  household,  a  man  of  deep 
earnest  religious  spirit,  and  as  well  acquainted  with  the  Bible  as  any 
one  I  have  ever  met  with.  I  have  no  doubt  I  can  say  for  my  four 
brothers,  who  live  in  Leicester,  that  if  ever  in  some  unhappy  mood 
we  were  disposed  to  say  with  the  Psalmist,  "  all  men  are  liars," 
and  to  doubt  the  reality  of  personal  religion,  the  remembrance  of 
this  sterling  example  would  silence  our  sceptism. 

I  believe  my  father's  early  religious  awakening  was  produced  in 
connection  with  the  sermons  of  some  Calvinistic  clergyman.  I 
remember  him  speaking  highly  of  I  think  two  names,  Vaughan  and 
Robinson,  of  this  class,  who  were  greatly  instrumental  in  guiding 
him  in  his  early  youth  to  the  Saviour,  in  whom  he  believed,  with 
a  faith  and  cheerfulness  which  no  sorrows  nor  troubles  ever  be- 
clouded ;  for  though  no  man  enjoyed  life  more,  or  more  overflowed 
with  constant  thankfulness  for  "  temporal  mercies,"  and  a  serene 
joy  as  to  his  future  inheritance,  on  which  he  constantly  drew,  so 
that  if  he  had  been  in  a  prison  or  a  workhouse  he  would  have  felt 
that  his  palace  was  next  door,  and  that  he  was  only  waiting  his 
Father's  time  to  enter ; — still  he  had  his  sorrows  and  bereave- 
ments and  struggles,  as  all  men  have.  His  greatest  anxiety  was  to 
"  see  his  children  walking  in  the  truth  ;  "  and  if  he  had  had  in  one 
hand  the  gift  of  a  splendid  fortune  and  in  the  other  the  gift  of  God 
which  is  eternal  life,  to  bestow  only  one  or  the  other  of  them  on  us, 
we  should  have  had  the  latter.  I  have  two  distinct  early  pictures  of 
him,  in  this  respect :  one,  as  we  walked  alongside  him  in  the  fie]<?s  on 


13 

odnday  afternoon,  asking  us,  I  think  out  of  a  catechism  called 
"  Milk  for  Babes," — "  Can  you  tell  me,  child,  who  made  you  ?  " 
To  which  the  answer,  as  I  remember,  was,  "  The  Great  God,  Who 
made  heaven  and  earth  :"  the  other  picture  is  that  of  his  frequently 
standing  at  our  bed's  foot,  earnestly  speaking  to  us,  and  praying  for 
us.  There  was  many  a  wet  pillow  of  which  he  was  ignorant,  as  the 
dusk  of  some  summer  evening  deepened,  and  we  could  just  discern 
his  form,  by  the  remaining  light  that  streamed  into  our  cottage 
chamber. 

The  changes  of  trade,  from  alteration  in  machinery  in  manufac- 
turing wool  into  yarn, — three  gradations  of  which  I  remember,  the 
first  called,  "  bobbining,"  the  second  the  "  spinning  jenny,"  and 
the  third  the  great  steam  "  factory," — drove  my  father  into  the 
wilderness  of  this  world  to  follow  the  tide  of  emigration  from  vil- 
lages to  the  towns.  For  some  time  he  went  as  a  pioneer  to  Leicester, 
leaving  us  lads  with  our  mother,  whom  we  all  loved  and  never 
vexed ;  and  whose  family  name  was  made  my  Christian  name, 
derived  I  think  from  Danish  extraction.  My  father  came  home  on 
the  Saturday  evening,  and  Sunday  was  a  good  day  to  us.  The  first 
thing  for  which  we  felt  before  quite  awake  was  "  a  plumb  bun'"  by 
our  pillows. 

We  removed  to  Leicester  when  I  was  about  ten  years  of  age  ; 
there  we  joined  the  Gallowtree-gate  congregation,  and  my  father 
was  a  "  member  of  the  church"  there  for  over  thirty  years,  till 
driven  away  by  what  he  felt  to  be  a  departure  from  that  gospel  in 
which  he  had  believed,  and  by  which  he  was  saved.  My  mother 
and  one  of  my  brothers,  Timothy,  went  to  heaven  before  him, 
while  I  was  at  college,  some  nine  years  after  our  removal  to 
Leicester. 

As  to  education,  we  had  but  ordinary  school  advantages,  though 
we  were  all  given  to  reading.  I  was  two  years  in  St.  Margaret's 
school,  Leicester,  much  of  the  time  serving  as  "monitor ;"  and  a  few 
of  us  were  favoured  by  Mr.  Hackett,  the  very  efficient  and  gen- 
tlemanly "  master,"  with  extra  private  teaching,  in  grammar  and 
some  other  subjects.  This  school  had  then  a  livery, — Scotch  cap, 
Oxford  mixture  or  pepper-and-salt  coat,  and  leather  shorts,  which 
were  embellished  with  ochre. 

I  left  that  school  to  keep  the  books  of  a  small  stocking  manufac- 
turer, who  took  out  work  from  hosiers  and  employed  men  in 
"  frames"  of  his  own,  for  which  he  received  weekly  rent. 

I  remember  how  bitter  a  thing  it  was  for  me  to  leave  home,  for  I 
resided  with  the  one  whose  books  I  kept  after  a  fashion. 
b3 


14 

I  longed  for  every  opportunity  of  going  home,  and  sometimes, 
while  hot  tears  ran  down  my  face,  I  wrote  "  M"  for  mother,  on  the 
finger  nails  of  my  left  hand.     I  was  then  about  fourteen. 

My  next  situation  permitted  me  to  live  at  home,  and  also,  being 
a  place  rather  of  trust  and  watching  than  work,  gave  me  large 
opportunities  of  reading.  In  the  place  where  I  was  there  were, 
several  books  which  I  read  with  avidity — some  volumes  of  Chambers' 
Journal,  a  copy  of  Adam  Smith's  Theory  of  Moral  Sentiments,  a 
Shakespeare,  Lavater's  Physiognomy,  with  plates,  and  Boxiana! 
To  these  I  added  Watts's  Improvement  of  the  Mind,  Cowper's 
Poems,  then  my  especial  favourite,  and  Young's  Night  Thoughts. 

We  had  had  several  ministers  at  Gallowtree-gate  Chapel  since  our 
settlement  in  Leicester :  a  Mr.  Mitchell,  thin,  cold  and  gentle- 
manly, who  I  think  died  a  Unitarian ;  a  Mr.  Taylor,  who  I  believe 
is  now  a  Unitarian  minister,  a  fine,  sensitive,  thoughtful  young  man, 
whose  farewell  sermon  I  heard  when  he  was  leaving  through  a  change 
of  sentiments, — which  is  neither  the  fashion,  nor  necessary  now  ; 
though  honour  might  require  it. 

Mr.  Taylor's  last  text  was  : — "Thou  wilt  keep  him  in  perfect 
peace  whose  mind  is  stayed  on  thee,  because  he  trusteth  in  thee." 
(Is.  xxvi.  3.) 

It  was  a  splendid  text.  I  remember  nothing  of  the  sermon,  but  I 
was  critic  enough  then  to  imagine  that  his  defect  was  that  he  did 
not  trust  in  God,  as  to  the  appointed  medium  of  mercy. 

His  discourse  was  listened  to  with  .great  respect,  was  delivered 
with  modesty  and  trembling  :  no  one  could  fail  to  sympathise  deeply 
with  the  speaker,  and  to  admire  his  honesty,  while  regretting  his 
change  of  sentiments. 

Our  next  minister  was  Mr.  Ferguson,  now  the  Rev.  Robert 
Ferguson,  LL.D.,  of  London,  who  was  greatly  beloved  in  our 
circle,  and  whose  "  removal"  was  much  lamented.  Then  came  the 
Rev.  George  Legge,  M.A.,  afterwards  LL.D.,  a  minister  of  con- 
siderable culture  and  attainments,  somewhat  metaphysical  in  ten- 
dency, possessed  of  a  gorgeous  imagination,  though  having  an 
inefficient  delivery. 

I  had  more  immediate  personal  relations  with  him,  and  received 
from  him  great  kindness  and  benefit.  It  was  by  his  advice  and 
arrangement  that  I  was  induced  and  enabled  to  enter  upon  an 
immediate  training  for  the  ministry,  which  by  preliminary  private 
instruction,  the  curriculum  of  Highbury  College,  London,  and  two 
sessions  at  Glasgow  University,  occupied  over  seven  years. 


15 

Chaptee  II, 

PREPARING  FOR  AND  GOING  TO  COLLEGE,  1838-43. 

During  my  discursive  reading  at  the  age  of  about  seventeen,  I 
became  much  interested  in  the  Unitarian  controversy,  which  may  be 
accounted  for  in  part  by  the  circumstances  already  named.  I  sat 
up  many  nights  till  very  late,  writing  down  my  arguments  on  the 
subject  and  upon  the  general  doctrines  of  Christianity.  My  father 
frequently  remonstrated  with  me  for  being  so  late.  His  favourite 
phrase  on  retiring  and  leaving  me  up  was  "you  will  be  like  a  dead 
thing  in  the  morning."  At  last  he  discovered  my  manuscript,  and 
without  my  knowledge  took  it  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Legge.  The  Doctor 
professed  to  discover  some  sign  of  promise  in  the  papers  thus  sur- 
reptitiously obtained,  and  sent  for  me  and  enquired  into  my  religious 
views,  and  whether  I  had  any  desire  to  become  a  minister.  Though 
I  had  long  secretly  dreamed  of  this,  there  seemed  to  me  to  be  many 
obstacles  in  the  way  of  securing  a  sufficient  education,  which  he 
kindly  said  were  not  insuperable,  as  there  were  ways  of  obtaining 
it  without  great  expense.  He  started  me  in  the  Latin  grammar, 
and  for  several  months  regulated  my  studies.  I  remember  that  on 
one  occasion  when  going  to  him  to  go  through  a  lesson,  I  called  in 
at  a  public  meeting,  the  speeches  at  which  drove  the  grammar  out 
of  my  head,  so  that  I  told  him  that  I  could  tell  him  what  they  said 
at  the  meeting,  but  I  was  afraid  I  could  not  remember  the  lesson. 
I  was  greatly  struck  at  his  readiness  in  running  through  part  of  the 
conjugation  of  a  Latin  verb,  and  I  thought  such  an  amaziug  attain- 
ment was  altogether  beyond  me.  A  few  months  afterwards  it  was 
arranged  that  I  should  study  preliminarily  under  the  Rev.  J.  G. 
Hewlett,  then  of  Lutterworth,  afterwards  of  Coventry,  and  finally 
of  London.  During  my  stay  with  Mr.  Hewlett,  as  during  the 
whole  of  my  seven  years'  pupilage,  Dr.  Legge  took  a  kindly  and 
affectionate  interest  in  my  welfare  and  progress.  We  frequently 
corresponded,  and  he  was  always  interested  to  know  of  my  affairs 
and  how  I  did.    Among  his  numerous  letters  I  find  the  following : — 

Leicestek,  February  5th,  1839. 
My  dear  Beewtn, 

I  ought  to  have  written  to  you  before  now.  I  am  afraid 
you  have  been  tempted  to  think  tbat  I  do  not  take  a  sufficient  interest  in  your 
welfare.  Tbe  notes  and  letters  which  you  have  sent  me  from  time  to  time 
claimed  of  me  a  written  expression  of  my  satisfaction  and  regard.  I  am  not 
however  a  man  of  much  ceremony  or  etiquette,  and  had  rather  speak  by  deeds 
than  words.  I  felt  assured  from  the  intercourse  I  had  with  you,  that  you  were 
possessed  of  those  qualities  of  mind  which  if  cultivated  would  render  an  abundant 
,  return  ;  and  I  feel  no  less  assured  that  you  possess  those  qualities  of  heart  which 


1.6 

will  render  it  an  occasion  of  thanksgiving  and  pride  to  have  been  instrumental 
in  aiding  that  cultivation.  Whether  then  I  vrrite  to  you  as  often  as  I  should,  or 
not,  you  -will  I  trust  repose  that  confidence  in  me  which  I  repose  in  you,  and 
which  to  the  extent  of  my  ability,  I  shall  be  desirous  to  evince.  You  have,  my 
dear  Brewin,  opened  up  to  you  a  fine  and  noble  career  of  ambition — the  ambition 
of  being  a  benefactor  of  your  species,  and  a  good  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ. 

To  the  successful  prosecution  of  this  career  two  things  are  necessary,  a  spirit 
of  diligent  and  strenuous  endeavour,  and  a  spirit  of  devoutness  and  dependence 
on  God. — "Write  me  at  jour  earliest  convenience,  and  believe  me,  my  dear  Brewin, 
very  heartily  vours, 

GEOKGE  LEGGE. 

My  studies  under  Mr.  Hewlett  were  "  with  a  view"  to  entering 
Highbury  College,  London,  for  which  another  student,  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Lee,  of  Epsom,  commenced  preparation  with  me,  partly 
under  the  auspices  of  the  college,  though  we  were  not  yet  recognised 
as  alumni. 

These  "  preparatory  studies"  were  to  be  followed  by  an  examina- 
tion before  the  College  Committee,  a  process  at  that  time  carried  on 
in  the  residence  of  Thomas  Wilson,  Esq.,  treasurer  of  the  institu- 
tion, in  Highbury  Place,  Islington. 

De.Legge,  writing  to  me  jnst  before  this  formidable  "  trial,"which 
he  scarcely  expected  so  soon,  consoled  me  by  saying  "  of  course  you 
must  prepare  for  your  trial  as  well  as  you  can.  I  know  nothing  to 
advise  as  to  your  '  exercise'  [trial  sermon,]  except  that  it  should  be 
as  short  and  simple  as  may  be,  and  as  much  adapted  as  you  can 
manage  it  to  a  common  congregation,  containing  the  simple  elements 
of  the  gospel,  with  a  pointed  application  in  the  third  person,  I  should 
say,  rather  than  the  first."  He  was  afraid  I  should  be  too  pointed 
and  personal  and  try  to  convert  the  committee.  "  You  mast  hold 
yourself  ready  to  answer  a  variety  of  questions, — general,  theological, 
experimental,  practical, — which  one  or  other  of  the  Committee  may 
propose,  oftentimes  foolish  enough  and  bothering  enough ;  you  will 
endeavour  to  answer  them  with  meekness  and  fear.  Self-possession 
and  modesty  will  bear  you  nobly  through."  He  forgot  that  these 
two  qualities  do  not  always  go  together.  This  letter  of  advice  is 
dated—"  Leicester,  May  24th,  1839." 

It  was  now  necessary  to  get  up  our  little  sermons,  which  we 
recited  to  each  other,  only — I  stuck  in  the  middle.  For  besides 
that  I  felt  the  recitation  to  be  a  farce,  I  never  was  good  at  remem- 
bering recitations,  and  could  not  gravely  address  the  chairs  and  desk, 
especially  as  my  trial  text  was  a  question  which  they  could  neither 
answer  nor  feel  interested  in  : — "  Who  art  thou,  0  great  mountain  ? 
Before  Zerubbabel  thou  shalt  become  a  plain."  Whether  I  considered 
the  committee  to  be  the  mountain,  or  they  took  me  for  Zerubbabel, 


17 

I  do  not  at  present  remember,  but  they  seemed  to  regard  my 
sermon  as  somewhat  "original,"  as  no  doubt  it  was.  The  most 
trying  part  of  the  exercise  was  introduced  in  some  such  terms  as 
these,  "  Will  you  spend  a  few  minutes  with  us,  Sir  ?  " — which  meant 
that  I  should  kneel  down  to  the  committee  and  pray  to  the  Almighty 
with  probably  an  eye  to  the  former.  Having  recovered  from  this  trial, 
I  was  subjected  to  a  cross-examination  on  the  paper.  "Motives  and 
experiences,"  which  had  been  sent  in  by  me  to  the  committee.  It 
seemed  I  had  told  them  that  "  he  who  desired  the  office  of  a  bishop 
desired  a  good  work,"  as  a  defence  of  my  ambition,  wherefore  I 
was  asked  by  Dr.  Henderson, — what  were  the  apostolic  qualities  of 
a  bishop  ?  As  some  of  these  were  negative,  I  said,  "  he  must  not 
be  given  to  much  wine  and  no  striker."  I  was  pressed  for  other 
negatives  in  this  suggestive  manner : — "He  must  be — not  a  what?  " 
I  confessed  my  ignorance,  and  was  told  somewhat  sharply  "  not  a 
novice"  wherefore,  I  replied,  I  believed  that  St.  Paul  said  some- 
where— "  Let  no  man  despise  thy  youth."  This  gave  them  a 
"  pause,"  after  which  I  was  seriously  reminded  that  "  I  looked  very 
young,"  upon  which  I  said  that  I  thought  that  would  be  cured  in 
time.  I  was  then  dismissed  while  the  committee  held  a  private  con- 
sultation ;  and  on  being  recalled  was  informed  that  I  was  admitted 
to  the  institution  for  the  usual  six  months,  at  the  end  of  which,  all 
being  satisfactory,  my  position  as  student  would  be  confirmed.  I 
wrote  briefly  to  inform  Dr.  Legge  of  my  acceptance  as  a  student, 
to  which  he  replied,  enquiring  for  particulars,  being  a  dear  lover  of 
any  carefully  descriptive  accounts  of  character: — "  Leicester,  June 
5,  1839.  My  dear  Brewin,  accept  my  felicitations  on  the  result  of 
your  visit  feo  London ;  you  have  indeed  thus  far  occasion  to  rejoice, 
and  I  rejoice  with  you.  I  should  exceedingly  like  to  see  an  account 
of  the  particulars  of  your  examination,  if  you  have  been  able  to 
put  it  on  paper;  I  hope  you  will  favour  me  therewith."  Mr. 
Wilson,  the  treasurer,  took  great  interest  in  the  institution,  and  in 
the  students,  and  was  very  liberal  in  his  support  of  the  college ;  but 
he  required  no  small  amount  of  deference  towards  him  on  the  part  of 
the  students,  whom  he  occasionally  invited  to  his  table  by  way  of 
trotting  them  up,  and  drawing  them  out,  expending  upon  them  no 
little  advice,  and  considering  that  the  most  docile  were  the  most 
deserving  and  able.  He  would  occasionally  go  to  some  neigh- 
bouring chapel  to  hear  the  students  preach  in  the  afternoon,  when 
the  audiences  were  for  the  most  part  composed  of  "domestics," 
addressed  by  some  of  the  students  as  "  My  dear  brethren."  On 
one   occasion   I  was  myself  unfortunate  enough  to  be  heard  by 


18 

him,  and  was  sent  for  and  "called  over  the  coals."  My  sermon 
was  not  long  enough — I  ought  to  have  "  gone  on  and  finished  my 
work" — my  "voice  was  not  loud  enough" — and  I  "  drank  water  in 
the  pulpit,  which  was  a  most  disgraceful  thing."  I  apologized, 
saying  that  I  had  a  very  severe  cold  and  cough.  "  Cold,  Sir!  "  said 
he,  "a  good  pulpit  sweat  is  what  you  want," — and  he  further 
kindly  observed,  "  You  have  a  weak  voice,  Sir,"  and  lest  I  should 
get  out  of  that,  he  added,  "  Eobert  Hall  had  a  weak  voice,"  but, 
said  he,  "  Kobert  Hall  had  talent,  Sir  ;  you  have  no  talent,  Sir:  I 
don't  tell  you  to  leave  the  ministry,  but  I  can  give  you  no  hope,  Sir," 
and  so  he  gave  me  his  blessing.  Not  highly  appreciating  this  kind  of 
thing  I  carefully  avoided  obtruding  myself  again  into  the  great  man's 
presence  ;  but  he  expected  that  at  certain  times, — as  in  leaving  the 
college  at  the  end  of  the  session,  and  returning  to  it  at  the  com- 
mencement, each  student  would  call  and  do  him  suit  and  service. 
He  wrote  to  my  pastor,  Dr.  Legge,  of  Leicester,  complaining  that 
I  had  been  very  neglectful  in  this  respect,  and  I  was  advised  to  call 
upon  and  appease  Diotrophes ;  — with  reluctance  and  under 
authority  I  did  so.  I  found  that  he  had  long  been  filled  as  with 
new  wine,  with  the  burden  of  reproof,  to  which  he  had  had  no 
opportunity  of  giving  vent  till  now,  and  he  broke  out  thus  : — "  I 
saw  some  friends  of  yours,"  said  he,  "  at  the  Isle  of  Wight." 
"  Indeed,  Sir,"  I  replied  very  humbly.  "  Yes,  Sir,"  said  he,  with 
emphasis,  "and  I  understand  you  have  formed  an  attachment,  Sir." 
"I  believe  so,"  said  I.  "  Do  you  think  that  is  prudent  ? '"  said  he. 
"I  don't  know,"  said  I.  "  Well,  I  do  know,"  said  he,  "that  it  is 
not.'"  "  I  don't  know  these  people,  Sir :  they  may  be  very  respec- 
table, but  a  minister's  wife  ought  to  have  money,  Sir.  I  have  known 
ministers  very  ill  off,*  Sir,  who  have  been  glad  to  get  cast-off 
clothes,  Sir  ;  and  you  have  got  engaged,  Sir,  and  have  not  finished 
learning  your  profession.  I  think  it  very  imprudent,  Sir."  Well, 
Sir,"  said  I,  "  What  would  you  advise  ?"  "  Sir,"  said  he,  "  if  it  is 
done,  and  cannot  be  undone,  you  must  submit  to  be  told  of  it." 
I  explained  that  I  did  not  wish  it  to  be  undone,  and  that  I  did  not 
care  about  being  told  of  it,  because  I  did  not  see  that  it  was  wrong. 

On  the  whole  he  seemed  to  think  that  I  was  driving  a  lean 
bargain. 

No  one  who  has  not  been  "in  love  "  can  understand  the  supreme 
contempt  with  which  I  regarded  these  mundane  and  mercenary 
considerations  ;  and  I  wrote  in  no  measured  terms  to  my  pastor, 

*  God  kelp  them !  for  man  won't. 


19 

Dr.  Legge,  respecting  what  I  considered  the  vulgarity  and  insolence 
to  which  I  had  been  exposed  by  following  his  advice.  Above 
twenty  years'  experience  of  that  "bargain"  has  not  brought  me 
any  nearer  to  the  treasurer's  opinion. 

The  college  building  is  a  quadrangle  of  three  sides.  The  two 
wings  contained  the  small  rooms,  called  "  studies,"  and  over  them 
were  corresponding  bed-rooms  :  and  the  middle — the  bulk  of  the 
building — comprised  the  library,  dining-room,  and  class-rooms,  and 
the  "  resident  tutor's "  dwelling.  The  building  is  now  used  as  a 
Church  of  England  training  school,  tke  college  itself  being  trans- 
ferred to  St.  John's  Wood,  in  combination  with  the  Coward  and 
Hackney  Colleges,  under  the  title  of  "  New  College."  When  I 
"entered"  there  were  three  professors: — Dr.  Henderson,  pro- 
fessor of  Hebrew  and  theology;  the  Rev.  J.  H.  Godwin,  "resident 
tutor,"  teacher  of  philosophy,  mathematics,  logic,  rhetoric,  and  the 
criticism  of  the  Greek  Testament.  Mr.  Godwin  commenced  as 
professor — succeeding  Dr.  Halley — the  same  year  that  I  entered 
as  student.  Dr.  War.  Smith,  celebrated  for  his  classical  and 
biblical  dictionaries,  was  the  professor  of  Greek  and  Latin.  This 
last  professor  had  great  difficulty  in  indoctrinating  me  into  the 
system  of  "crude  forms"  in  Greek  and  Latin  grammar,  I  being 
sceptical  as  to  whether  the  languages  were  formed  precisely  on  the 
principles  which  he  laid  down.  After  having  several  times  intimated 
to  him  that  I  "  did  not  quite  see  it,"  he,  exercising  great  patience, 
thinking  perhaps  that  because  I  doubted  I  should  become  a  firm 
believer  at  last,  on  one  occasion  said  to  me,  "  Well,  will  this  do — 
can  you  see  it  now  ?  "  I  said,  I  see  it  now ;  and  I  admired  it  ever 
after.  There  were  few  more  systematic  scholars  or  more  thorough 
teachers,  and  I  always  appreciated  his  lectures.  Mr.  Godwin  was 
a  man  of  sharp  clear  intellect,  not  strikingly  profound,  yet  well 
calculated  to  quicken  the  minds  of  students,  though  somewhat 
tending  to  confuse  them.  He  was  always  willing  to  explain  and 
to  discuss,  of  which  disposition  I  often  took  advantage.  Dr. 
Henderson  was  a  gentleman  of  vast  learning  in  oriental  languages, 
but  crude,  not  having  the  least  philosophical  tendency.  On  theo- 
logical questions  he  seldom  gave  his  own  opinions,  but  would 
repeat  the  opinions  of  many  others.  One  form  of  class  work  under 
the  late  Dr.  Henderson  was  filling  up  what  was  called  a  "syllabus," 
in  which  certain  heads  of  doctrines  or  questions  relating  to  theology 
were  written  down,  and  a  number  of  books  on  the  subjects  referred 
to,  which  were  to  be  condensed  under  these  heads.  These  books 
were  forwarded  in  time  to  the  different  students  in  the  class.    Some 


20 

of  these  would  be  on  the  "  Deistical  Controversy ;"  and  it  did  occa- 
sionally happen  that  we  counted  round  to  see  who  would  go  in,  and 
what  topic  would  fall  to  each,  so  that  he  might  prepare  in  the  part 
thus  occurring  to  him,  not  perhaps  having  always  written  on  any 
of  the  other  topics.  This  arrangement  was  occasionally  disturbed, 
some  one  failing  to  appear  in  the  class.  I  have  myself  had  to  read 
a  short  essay  from  a  blank  paper  in  consequence  of  such  accident. 
Sometimes,  after  one  had  read  his  part,  the  good  doctor  would  ask 
another  what  he  had  on  the  subject,  and  might  be  informed  that 
his  views  were  very  much  the  same  as  those  of  the  previous  reader, 
and  so  would  get  excused  from  reading  on  the  ground  of  avoiding 
repetition.  Once,  when  called  in  for  Hebrew,  I  was  deep  in 
Junius' s  Letters,  then  a  favourite  book  with  me.  Being  in  the  middle 
of  one  of  the  letters,  I  took  my  small  copy  of  Junius,  determining 
to  finish  it.  As  I  was  reading  this,  placed  inside  my  Hebrew  Bible, 
and  was  just  struck  with  one  remark  of  the  writer,  the  doctor  asked 
me  a  question  in  Hebrew  construction.  Not  knowing  what  he  was 
speaking  of,  but  only  that  he  was  addressing  me,  I  had  to  reply 

"  I  don't  know,  doctor ;"  upon  which  he  informed  me  that  Mr. 

could  answer  that  question  although  he  had  only  been  a  short  time 
learning  Hebrew,  i  waited  until  my  turn  came  round  to  read,  and 
had  got  through  my  verse  pretty  smoothly,  coming  perhaps  very  near 
to  the  English  translation,  when  he  began  questioning  me  upon  the 
grammatical  construction  of  the  passage.  I  told  him  if  he  was  in  any 
difficulty  upon  the  subject  I  had  not  the  least  doubt  that  the  gentle- 
man he  had  referred  to  could  assist  him,  although  he  had  been 
learning  Hebrew  so  short  a  time.  This  naturally  led  to  an  explosion, 
upon  which  I  said  it  was  very  improper  to  make  "  invidious  dis- 
tinctions" between  gentlemen.  When  the  class  was  being  dismissed 
the  good  doctor  called  me  back  and  told  me  he  was  "  very  sorry" — 
meaning,  I  suppose,  that  he  was  sorry  that  I  had  answered  him  as 
I  had — but,  before  he  could  go  further,  I  accepted  it  as  an  apology, 
saying,  "  Well,  doctor,  if  you  are  sorry  that  is  sufficient."  This, 
I  acknowledge,  was  rather  too  bad,  but  I  simply  repeat  it  as  a 
college  anecdote. 

The  rule  of  living  at  the  college  was  that  each  student  found  his 
own  tea,  coffee,  sugar,  and  coals  ;  the  main  substantiate  of  the  table 
being  provided  by  the  funds  of  the  institution.  There  were  about 
thirty  students,  and  we  were  summoned  to  prayers  twice  a  day — 
in  the  morning  before  breakfast,  and  in  the  evening  before  supper. 
In  the  morning  the  students  in  turn  conducted  the  service,  and  in 
the  evening  the  resident  tutor  generally.     These  exercises  on  the 


21 

part  of  the  students  did  not  always  escape  criticism,  and  sometimes 
invited  it.  One  gentleman  prayed  by  mistake  for  the  souls  of  the 
departed;  and  another  hoped  that  "we  might  anchor  in  the  firm 
and  the  true."  I  was  not  quite  sure  where  these  were,  and  I  don't 
know  where  he  is  now. 

Towards  the  end  of  my  "  course"  we  had  a  kind  of  College  insur- 
rection, though  generally  we  had  been  quiet  and  amicable.  Break- 
fast was  generally  the  occasion  for  some  little  speechifying,  the 
senior  student  present  being  chairman.  Any  one  wishing  to  speak, 
instead  of  seeking  to  catch  the  speaker's  eye,  endeavoured  to  catch 
his  ear,  by  striking  loudly  on  the  table  with  his  tea  or  coffee 
canister.     One  morning  we  were  startled  by  a  very  striking  knock 

from  the  canister  of  Mr. ,  who,  clearing  his  throat,  with  great 

eagerness  said  "  Gentlemen,  I  have  a  communication  to  make,  but 
I  don't  know  whether  I  may  make  it,  and  wish  for  your  opinion.  I 
have  been  ordered  by  the  resident  tutor  not  to  make  this  communi- 
cation ;  but  I  made  no  promise,  and  as  you  are  concerned,  I  want 
you  to  tell  me  whether  you  think  I  am  bound  to  silence."  We  of 
course  unanimously  gave  him  leave  to  speak.  He  then  proceeded 
to  inform  us  that  the  resident  tutor  had  asked  him  a  certain  ques- 
tion which  he  had  threatened  to  ask  each  one  of  the  students 
separately,  but  he  considered  it  was  a  question  which  no  one  should 
be  asked  without  some  special  reason  pointed  him  out.  It  appeared 
some  policeman  coming  up  to  the  college  the  previous  evening 
saw  some  person  before  him  who  disappeared  at  the  College,  and 
who  might  have  been  a  burglar.  The  "  servitor"  was  called  up, 
and  the  College  searched  to  see  if  any  one  had  got  in.  No  one  was 
founds  and  the  students  had  all  retired  to  bed.  The  inference,  as 
drawn  by  the  resident  tutor,  was,  that  some  student  had  entered  the 

College  clandestinely  after  hours.  Mr. 's  window  (a  single  pane) 

being  left  open,  he  was  sent  for  and  asked  what  time  he  came  in 
last  night*  He  said  "  Ten  o'clock."  "  Then  you  were  in  before 
the  doors  were  closed  ?"  "  Yes,  Sir."  "Because  some  one  got  in 
last  night,  and  1  am  determined  to  know  who  it  was,  and  to  ask 
each  student  in  turn  if  it  ivere  he"  The  debate  then  arose  as  to 
whether  this  method  of  investigation  was  suitable  to  our  position  as 
students,  the  universal  opinion  being  that  it  was  degrading  to  us, 
and  that  no  one  should  be  asked  respecting  any  presumed  act, 
except  so  far  as  any  evidence  might  seem  to  point  him  out.  We 
then  confessed  round  to  see  whether  any  one  had  entered  after  hours, 
and  found  out  that  no  one  had ;  hence  the  question  simply  was  as 
to  the  method  of  investigation.     We  then,  as  a  body,  sent  word  to 


the  professor  that  we  declined  to  answer  any  such  question  as  we 
understood  he  had  determined  to  ask.  He  immediately  sent  for 
the  senior  (that  is,  the  fourth  year's)  class,  to  which  I  belonged ; 
and  after  debating  the  subject,  he  said  "  perhaps  you  question  my 
authority  ?"  The  reply  was — "  that  is  exactly  it ;"  we  objected  both 
to  the  authority  and  propriety  of  such  a  method  of  questioning. 
The  class  was  dismissed,  and  on  the  arrival  of  the  other  professors 
we  were  all  summoned  into  the  library,  where  we  still  unanimously 
maintained  our  position,  as  declining  what  was  considered  auricular 
confession.  The  committee  was  afterwards  called,  and  announced 
to  us  that  unless  we  submitted  to  the  authority  of  the  resident  tutor 
for  such  a  style  of  inquiry  they  would  close  the  college  and  expel 
us  all.  It  was  distinctly  put  that  the  question  was  not  whether  any 
one  of  them  was  out  late,  but  whether  that  method  of  investigation 
was  to  be  submitted  to.  The  committee  commenced  the  inquiry 
on  the  spot,  putting  the  question  first  to  the  junior  student  of  the 
college,  who  rose  and  said  with  considerable  stammering,  "  Gentle- 
men, I  decline  most  respectfully  to  answer  that  question,"  where- 
upon some  one  said,  "  hear,  hear."J  The  committee  had  already 
declared  that  they  would  give  us  four  days  before  they  closed  the 
college,  but  as  we  were  retiring  one  Mr.  T.  D.,  of  0.  D.,*  who 
entered  college  as  a  great  Chartist,  broke  our  phalanx,  and  an- 
nounced to  the  committee  that  he  was  prepared  to  submit  by 
confessing  his  innocence.  They  then  said  they  would  wait  to  hear 
the  submission  of  all.  Being  informed  thereupon  they  would  have  to 
wait  for  some  time  before  all  would  submit  to  what  all  condemned, 
for  that  the  speaker  could  vouch  at  least  for  one,  and  they  had 
better  give  us  the  four  days,  we  were  dismissed  to  our  reflections. 
At  the  close  of  the  four  days  of  grace,  within  an  hour  from  the 
assembling  of  the  committee,  there  were  perhaps  six  who  had  not 
succumbed.  Some  had  asked  the  more  sturdy  of  the  holders-out 
what  he  would  do  ?  and  he  told  them  it  was  a  matter  of  conscience 
with  him ;  and  that  they  had  better  consider  how  far  they  could 
risk  it.  Two  offered  to  "  stand  by"  him,  but  were  told  that  they 
had  better  not  stand  by  any  one  if  they  did  not  stand  by  a  principle. 
One  "  submitted  under  protest,"  and  within  the  hour  all  had  given 
way  excepting  one.  He  was  sent  for  to  the  committee-room,  and 
then  told  that  they  supposed  he  was  aware  that  all  his  brethren  had 
acknowledged  authority  and  submitted  to  the  inquiry.  "  Yes." 
"  Well,  what  had  he  to  say?"      "  What  he  had  said  all  along,  that 

*  The  Key.  Thomas  Dayies,  of  Over  Darwen. 


23 

he  questioned  their  authority."  "  Had  he  consulted  any  friends  ?" 
"All  that  he  intended  to  consult."  "Had  he  consulted  any  ministers  ?" 
This  was  asked  fearing  he  might  have  some  one  outside  to  support 
him. — The  answer  was,  "No."  " Had  he  written  to  Dr. Legge,  his 
pastor?  "Yes,  but  he  may  have  been  out  of  town  and  not  had 
opportunity  to  answer  the  letter."  "  Should  you  like  to  wait  for 
his  answer  ?  "  "  No,  for  it  was  not  advice  but  conviction  that  was 
needed,  and  unless  a  letter  could  show  him  that  he  was  wrong  it  would 
be  of  no  use" — "  Should  you  like  a  few  more  days  to  consider?  " 
"  No,  hehad  consideredit  all  along  and  sawno  reason  to  change."  This 
closed  the  interview.  The  students  were  again  summoned  into  the 
library,  to  meet  the  committee ;  the  late  Rev.  John  Blackburn  then 
of  Pentonville  chapel,  and  editor,  I  think,  of  the  "  Congregational 
Magazine,"  was  chairman.  He  announced  first  that  the  committee 
congratulated  the  college  on  the  students'  submission  to  authority. 
Secondly,  a  vote  of  censure  on  the  student  who  had  warned  us  of 
the  intended  private  questioning.  Thirdly,  a  vote  of  expulsion  on 
the  one  who  had  followed  his  convictions.  •  The  chairman  followed 
the  announcement  of  expulsion  as  nearly  as  possible  in  these 
extraordinary  terms,  addressing  the  culprit  : — "  You  have  incurred 
the  disapprobation  of  good  men,  for  having  used  the  abilities  that 
God  has  given  you,  to  overthrow  order,  and  thus  to  thwart  God, 
Who  is  the  Source  of  all  authority." 

This  sentence  I  never  forgot,  for  I  heard  it,  and  was  concerned 
in  the  case, — which,  bad  as  it  was,  was  nothing  in  comparison  with 
the  almost  blasphemous  doctrine  of  "  Divine  right  "  by  which  the 
servility  of  the  future  teachers  of  our  churches  was  enforced.  Too 
many  of  them  have  learned  it  too  well ;  and  not  one  of  them  dare 
openly  to   rebel  against  it,  at  this  time  of  my  writing. 

But,  we  are  forgetting  our  poor  criminal,  whose  penalty  for 
honesty  was  enforced  by  this  outrageous  assumption  of  divine 
authority  to  override  common  sense.  His  prompt  reply  was,  "If 
he  followed  to  the  best  of  his  ability  the  light  that  God  had  given 
him  he  would  have  His  approval,  if  he  had  the  disapprobation  of 
good  men."  He  then  put  this  question  to  the  chairman  : — "  You 
have  an  organ  of  public  opinion  under  your  control ;  are  you  so  far 
convinced  of  the  propriety  of  your  course  as  to  allow  me" — The 
chairman  said  he  should  "  object  to  such  a  question  being  put," 
and  then  the  students  were  dismissed,  and  the  expelled  one  was 
called  back.  The  chairman  then  said  to  him,  "  You  were  about  to 
put  a  question  to  me."  He  replied,  "  Yes,  I  can  speak  plainly  to 
you  now — you  are  the  editor  of  such  a  magazine — are  you  so  con- 


24 

vinced  of  the  propriety  of  what  you  have  done  as  to  permit  me, 
through  it,  to  state  my  case,  and  I  will  give  you  the  letter  soon 
enough  for  you  to  make  any  remarks  upon  it  you  please."  He 
replied,  "I  shall  obstruct  you  publishing  by  all  means."  The 
answer  was,  "  I  only  asked  the  question,  to  let  you  know  that 
although  I  cannot  sustain  myself  before  you  I  shall  contest  the 
matter  before  the  world."  One  of  the  committee,  Dr.  Mathieson, 
(now  in  heaven)  enquired  of  the  expelled  :— "  Whether  he  would 
not  find  it  difficult  to  make  the  world  believe  that  he  was  right, 
when  all  his  brethren  had  given  way  ?  "  The  doctor  was  asked  in 
return  : — "  Which  of  them  submitted  until  you  threatened  them  ? 
They  yielded  to  power,  not  to  principle — and  do  you  think  any  the 
worse  of  me  because  I  would  not  ?  "  Another  committee  man, 
Mr.  Kitchener,  a  fellow  deacon,  with  the  possible  prospective 
father-in-law  of  the  expelled,  said  : — "  I  feel  an  interest  in  Mr.  — , 
from  circumstances  too  delicate  to  mention,  and  I  ask  him  the  ques- 
tion, would  he  not  injure  the  college  by  publishing  ?  "  The  resident 
tutor  then  said,  "He  hoped  the  committee  would  not  deprecate  Mr. 
— — 's  publishing" — and  the  one  who  had  first  spoken  to  urge 
him  not,  said : — "  Oh !  it  is  of  no  consequence."  The  chair- 
man then  said: — "We  are  willing  to  receive  any  communication 
from  you  now"  The  reply  was  : — "  I  have  none  to  make  but  what 
I  had  already  made, — that  I  question  the  propriety  of  such  a 
line  of  investigation,"  and  then  the  chairman  bowed  to  the  victim 
as  a  signal  to  retire.  After  seeing  some  of  the  students  he  left  the 
college  and  went  to  the  parties  most  concerned,  explaining  to  them 
the  whole  of  the  case,  and  leaving  it  to  them  how  far  they  would 
share  in  these  unexpected  difficulties,  in  which  he  had  no  right 
to  involve  them  without  their  consent :  they  had  faith  in  the  future, 
and  were  not  to  be  changed  by  these  events.  He  then  wrote  home 
to  Leicester  to  say  he  was  coming  home  soon,  had  left  college, 
could  not  submit  to  what  he  considered  degrading ;  and  that 
they  might  expect  him  home  shortly.  He  received  an  answer  that 
was  sufficiently  satisfactory,  and  stayed  for  a  little  time  with  his 
friends.  He  wrote  a  letter  for  the  Nonconformist,  which  Mr.  Miall 
wisely  advised  him  to  shorten,  and  reserve  further  explanations  for 
subsequent  replies ;  generously  agreeing  to  insert  this  shorter  state- 
ment of  the  case.  In  two  days  two  students  came  down  to  where 
he  was  staying — Mr.  Homan's,  Lordship's  Road,  Stoke  Newington — - 
and  informed  him  that  the  resident  tutor  had  enquired  for  him,  and 
that  they  believed  it  was  "  a  recall."  He  said,  "  It  is  too  late 
now,  as  he  had  left   a  letter  at  the  Nonconformist  office,"  which 


25 

would  appear  in  the  morning,  nd  the  breach  would  be  irreparable. 
They  replied, — "  Could  he  no.  get  the  letter  back  and  wait  till  he 
heard  the  action  of  the  commit  ^e  ?" — He  said,  his  friends  were 
going  to  the  Isle  of  Wight  to-morrow,  and  he  would  not  lose 
the  evening.  They  kindly  offered  to  go  into  the  city  for 
him,  and  to  return,  if  they  could  not  secure  the  manuscript's 
withdrawal  for  a  time.  They  did  not  return  ;  and  the  next  morning 
he  went  up  to  the  college  and  found  his  letter  with  them,  with  a 
note  at  the  foot  of  it  written  by  the  editor  of  the  Nonconformist, 
to  say  that  as  this  was  a  public  question  he  felt  it  right  to  insert 
the  letter,  and  that  his  columns  would  be  open  to  an  answer 
signed  by  a  committee-man.  His  letter  being  withdrawn,  he  went 
to  the  professor,  saying  that  he  understood  he  had  enquired  for 
him,  and  wished  to  know  the  reason.  He  said  the  committee  had 
rescinded  its  resolution.  When  asked  "  On  what  grounds  ? " 
he  said  that  Mr.  Wilson,  the  treasurer,  having  died,  they  did  not 
wish  to  have  any  unpleasant  circumstances  in  connection  with  his 
death,  but  he  added — "the  committee  still  insist  upon  the  right  to 
carry  out  their  method  of  investigation."  "  What,  with  me  ?"  he 
said.  "  No,"  said  he.  "Then,"  he  replied,  "  Of  course  I  have 
nothing  to  do  with  it,"  and  he  re-entered  college  with  the  only  un- 
bent neck.  I  should  here  say — resuming  the  "  first  person,"  that 
when  the  resident  tutor  enquired  for  me  the  night  before,  calling 
out  my  name,  the  student  who  had  been  the  medium  of  commu- 
nication said,  "He  is  gone,  sir."  "Gone!  "said  the  professor. 
"  Yes,  sir,  he  was  turned  out,  sir."  "  But  I  thought  he  would  not 
have  gone  so  soon."  "  Yes,  sir,  he  went  directly ;  he  was  expelled, 
sir,"  said  this  rich  droll,  wickedly  laying  stress  on  the  words — 
"turned  out! — expelled!!  sir."  This  emphasis  was  a  kind 
protest  and  reproach  ;  but  the  speaker  immediately  added,  "  I  think 
I  can  find  him."  Being  requested  to  do  so,  he  came.  Some  time 
after  this,  Dr.  Legge  when  travelling,  met  with  one  of  the  members 
of  the  committee,  who  bitterly  complained  that  Mr.  Miall  was 
about  to  open  his  columns  to  my  defence  ;  which  was  considered  a 
grievous  crime.  Dr.  Legge  replied,  "  I  think  Miall  was  right  and 
Grant  too.  By  the  way  do  you  know  that  Mr.  Grant  is  a  neophyte 
and  protege  of  mine  ?  "  After  this,  the  committee-man  somewhat 
changed  his  tune.  I  learned  from  this  conversation,  which  Dr. 
Legge  reported  to  me,  that  it  was  not  justice,  nor  respect  to  the 
occasion  of  the  lamented  treasurer's  death,  that  caused  the  revoca- 
tion of  the  committee's  edict,  but  fear  of  the  world's  opinion, 
which  would  have  been  unanimous.     I  do  not  record  these  circum- 


stances  as  of  any  great  pnblic  consequence,  as  the  whole  may. 
seem  trivial,  except  that  it  was  part  of  my  education,  in  which  I 
graduated  with  honours  in  independence. 

I  had  but  a  few  weeks  to  stay  in  college  as  the  session  was  closing, 
and  it  completed  my  fourth  year  there,  which  was  the  term  of  study 
in  that  institution.  Going  back  after  an  expulsion  of  some  two  days 
had,  however — I  mean  it  should  have  had — the  effect  of  reinstating 
me  in  full  and  frank  recognition  as  an  accredited  student,  eligible  to 
"  accept  a  call."  I  learned  afterwards  by  bitter  experience  that  in 
anticipating  so  frank  and  honest  a  conclusion  of  a  fair  fight,  I 
"  wronged  the  honourable  men"  who  stand  at  the  door  of  promotion 
and  have  in  their  hands  the  patronage  of  the  Independent  Churches  ; 
whose  whisper,  or  shrug,  or  faint  praise,  can  put  back  the  hour- 
hand  of  a  student's  success  ;  and,  if  he  has  not  some  vigour  as  well 
as  independence,  break  his  spirit  and  terminate  his  ministerial 
career.  I  remember  too  well  the  groans  of  some  suffering  fellow- 
creatures  whom,  soon  after  this,  I  consoled,  when  I  as  much  needed 
their  consolation,  except  that,  perhaps,  I  started  with  a  larger  stock 
of  confidence  and  ardent  spirits,  and  had  been  trained  at  home  to 
lookup.  This,  however,  is  anticipating.  At  the  close  of  my  college 
course  I  went  home,  down  to  Leicester,  and  in  a  room  in  my  eldest 
brother  John's  house,  ground  up  for  a  competitive  examination, 
which,  if  successful,  would  cany  me  to  Glasgow  University. 


Chapter  III. 

STUDYING     FOR     AND    AT     GLASGOW     UNIVERSITY, 

FIRST    SESSION,    1843-4. 

Being  desirous  of  obtaining  still  further  educational  advantages, 
after  having  finished  my  "  course"  at  Highbury  College,  and  having 
learned  that  Dr.  Williams  had  bequeathed  property  to  establish 
exhibitions  or  scholarships,  sometimes  called  "bursaries,"  which 
enabled  candidates  successful  in  a  competitive  examination  to 
pursue  their  studies  in  Glasgow  University,  I  applied  to  the 
solicitor  and  secretary  of  the  Trust  for  information  as  to  those 
eligible  for  candidature,  the  subjects  for  examination,  and  the 
probability  of  any  early  vacancies.  In  reply,  I  received  the 
following  circular  : — 

"  Dr.  Williams'  Scholarships  in  the  University  of  Glasgow," 
"  Dr.   Williams'   Trustees  give  notice  that  there  will  be  vacant 
scholarships  in  the  University  of  Glasgow  for  the  i.ext  session. 


27 

Candidates  are  required  to  present  themselves  in  the  Library,  Red 
Cross-street,  Cripplegate,  London,'"  at  10  o'clock  on  Wednesday, 
the  29th  day  of  September  next,  for  the  purpose  of  being  examined 
in  the  following  course  of  study,  with  a  view  to  ascertain  their  com- 
parative merits,  and  to  assign  the  vacant  scholarships  to  those  who 
may  evince  the  greatest  proficiency  : — Livy,  1st  Book ;  Cicero  de 
Senectute, Virgil's  Georgics,  Horace's  Odes,  first  Book  ;  Latin  Com- 
position, Luke's  Gospel,  Xenophon's  Anabasis,  1st  Book;  Homer's 
Iliad,  first  four  books ;  Arithmetic,  Algebra,  including  Simple 
Equations  ;  Euclid,  first  three  books. 

It  will  be  necessary  that  each  candidate  should  previously  send 
to  the  secretary  a  certificate  proving  that  he  is  at  least  sixteen 
years  of  age,  that  he  should  produce  sufficient  testimonials  to  his 
moral  character,  and  that  he  should  satisfy  the  trustees  of  his  wish 
to  be  educated  for  the  ministry  amongst  the  Protestant  Dissenters 
of  South  Britain.  According  to  the  terms  of  the  founder's  will  the 
preference  will  be  given  to  sons  of  poor  Presbyterian  ministers 
equally  qualified. 

All  communications  and  enquiries  concerning  the  scholarships  tc 
be  addressed,  post  paid,  to 

Mr.  SAMUEL  COTTON, 

Solicitor  and  Secretary  to  the  Trust, 

76,  Basinghall-street,  London. 

In  1843  (Sept.)  two  vacancies." 
l  took  this  with  me  down  to  Leicester,  and  went  carefully,  though 
not  very  hopefully,  through  most  of  the  subjects,  especially  Homer, 
in  whom  I  delighted ;  so  that  I  wrote  more  than  "  a  clavis"  of  the 
first  four  books,  namely  every  word  in  its  variety  of  "  dialects,"  and 
a  very  close  literal  translation,  which  I  felt  was  a  useful  exercise 
for  accuracy  and  patient  attention.  I  find  in  a  letter  to  a  former 
fellow-student  the  following  statement,  dated  August,  1843 : — 
"  You  will  see  how  absorbed  I  have  been,  for  I  have  been  diving 
into  other  matters,  as  well  as  the  Glasgow  affair ;  by  the  way  I  am 
trembling  on  this  question  ;  I  have  little  hope,  but  despair  will  come 
soon  enough."  I  was  not  so  much  afraid  of  the  "  subjects"  as  of 
the  competitors,  whom  rumour  had  described,  and  whom  I  regarded 
as  "  better  up"  than  myself,  not  only  in  the  particular  books,  but 
in  general  scholarship,  and  especially  arithmetic  and  algebra,  on 
the  principles  of  which  I  could  philosophize  with  De  Morgan,  but  in 
the  practice  I  was  at  sea. 

*  Keraoved  to  8,  Queen's-square,  Bloomsbury,  W.C.,  the  old  premises  being 
taken  by  the  Metropolitan  KailTray. 


Notwithstanding  my  own  forebodings,  I  wrote  to  another  college 
friend,  to  remove  his  indisposition  "to  look  at  the  bright  side  of 

things  ;"  and  saying,   "  do  not  let annoy  you;  if  they  do  not 

come,  it  is  only  to  teach  you  that  they  may  be  spared.  This  is  my 
religion  : — You  fail  in  such  a  point, — what  then  ?  must  you  mope 
and  die  ?  No !  It  is  a  small  lesson  to  this  effect,  that  God  does  not 
want  you  there  ;  and  that  your  greatest  happiness  does  not  lie  in 
what  you  fancied. 

I  will  say  no  more,  or  some  time  you  will  take  up  against  me  the 
proverb  '  physician,  heal  thyself.'  I  am  working  moderately  well 
for  Glasgow,  expect  to  get  through  the  drudgery  and  to  have  it  for 
my  pains,  but  I  feel  that  even  this  is  worth  having,  and  that  the 
prize  is  chiefly  in  the  struggle. 

I  am  comfortably  placed  here,  have  a  nice  room  to  myself  for 
study  in  my  brother  John's  house,  so  that  I  am  leading  an  easy  and 
pleasant  life,  for  one  is  never  so  easy  and  happy  as  when  among 
those  who  would  be  glad  to  see  you  so." 

When  the  time  for  examination  drew  near,  I  went  up  to  London 
the  preceding  day  and  spent  the  night  before  the  trial  in  the  study 
of  the  same  gentleman  as  forewarned  the  brethren  against  the  in- 
tended encroachment  of  the  Professors's  new  inquisitional  process. 
I  had  the  Georgics  yet  to  go  through.  By  twelve  o'clock  that  night 
I  had  read  the  first  two  Georgics,  none  of  which  I  had  seen  before. 
Getting  sleepy,  I  lay  down  on  the  study  floor  with  a  hassock  for  a 
pillow,  and  fell  into  a  dream  in  which  (as  if  I  had  been  reading  the 
iEneid  instead  of  the  Georgics)  I  was  in  some  large  hall,  and 
saw  old  Polyphemus,  considerably  magnified,  coming  to  devour 
me.  I  rushed  towards  the  door  to  escape,  but  was  seized ;  and 
striking  at  the  monster,  I  hit  a  leg  of  the  table  under  which  I  was 
sleeping  and  sprung  up  to  finish  the  fight.  The  dream  for  a  time 
still  mastered  me,  so  that  when  risen  from  my  carpet  couch  I  locked 
the  door,  stirred  the  fire,  and  looked  round  carefully,  poker  in  hand. 
I  then  determined  to  find  some  tea,  and  venturing,  still  armed,  into 
the  corridor,  I  explored  several  of  the  studies,  and  after  finding  a 
mug,  a  kettle,  and  some  tea,  carrying  poker  in  my  hand,  I  descended 
to  the  lower  regions  or  cellar  department,  where  were  bath  room, 
coal  cellars,  and  pump.  I  filled  the  kettle  and  returned,  still  in  a 
kind  of  stupor,  and  having  locked  the  door  made  some  tea.  With 
this  inspiration  I  returned  to  the  Georgics,  and  read  carefully  through 
the  third  and  fourth  books.  After  this  I  took  a  walk  through  the 
college  grounds,  and  repeated  some  propositions  of  Euclid,  thinking 
over  the  diagrams.     At  last  I  started  for  the  scene  of  the  examina- 


29 

tion.  On  my  way  my  heart  failed  me,  and  I  began  to  think  that 
there  were  others  who  I  knew  had  given  out  that  they  were  pre- 
paring for  the  examination,  and  who  certainly  were  better  scholars 
than  myself.  I  turned  into  a  bookshop  and  looked  over  the  shelves 
in  a  state  of  hesitation,  and  again  I  started  for  the  library,  but  on 
the  road  I  thought,  If  I  go,  and  fail,  friends  will  say  "  we  thought 
you  could  have  done  it ;"  but  if  I  don't  go  they  will  say  "  we  knew 
you  could."  However,  I  pushed  on,  and  on  arriving  at  the  library 
was  shown  into  a  small  room,  in  which  several  hats  were  hung  up 
that  I  supposed  belonged  to  competitors.  I  hung  my  own  alongside, 
trusting  that  if  the  hat  was  not  so  good  the  head  might  be,  for  I 
was  still  as  if  half- dreaming.  Bye  and  bye  I  heard  the  footsteps  of 
some  one  coming  down  stairs  :  it  was  the  attendant,  who  invited  me 
up  to  meet  the  examiners.  One  of  these  was  the  Rev.  James  Yates, 
celebrated  for  his  share  in  "  the  Unitarian  Controversy"  with  Dr. 
Wardlow,  of  Glasgow.  Another  I  think  was  the  Rev.  Mr.  Redpath, 
also  a  distinguished  scholar.  There  was  a  third  whose  name  I  do 
not  remember.  I  was  told,  immediately  on  entering,  that  I  was  the 
only  one  to  be  examined.  I  replied  that  I  was  glad,  but  was  told 
"  it  makes  no  difference,  you  have  to  go  through  the  subjects."  I 
said  I  expected  no  less,  but  I  was  glad  there  was  no  competition. 
I  was  examined  in  the  last  two  Georgics,  which  I  had  read  since  mid- 
night. I  did  not  forget  a  word,  and  answered  readily  as  to  the 
special  topics  of  each  book. 

In  Greek  I  passed  well  and  in  Latin  too,  except  that  in  a  word 
or  two  I  was  deficient — in  "quantity."  What  I  most  dreaded  was, 
Latin  composition  ;  and  when  one  of  the  examiners  brought  me  a 
page  of  English  to  translate  into  Latin,  I  told  him  I  thought  I 
could  not  do  it.  He  said,  "You  know  it  is  one  of  the  things 
required."  "  Yes,"  I  replied,  "  I  know  my  fate."  He  returned 
to  the  other  end  of  the  room  and  I  began  translating — first  turning 
a  few  of  the  most  difficult  phrases,  and  then  filling  in  between  and 
copying  off.  I  rose  when  I  had  done  and  he  came  towards  me  to 
receive  the  paper,  and  went  to  examine  it  with  his  two  colleagues. 
He  returned  soon,  saying  "It  showed  a  very  respectable  acquaint- 
ance with  the  language,"  for  which  I  secretly  blessed  Providence. 
Afterwards  came  algebra,  in  which  I  made  rather  "  a  mull,"  then  a 
"  corollary,"  founded  on  one  of  the  books  of  Euclid, — not  one  of  the 
original  propositions ; — in  reference  to  which  I  was  asked  to  prove 
that  some  figure  was  bisected  by  a  certain  line : — as  if  by  intuition 
I  saw  the  proof,  which  I  repeated  hastily  to  the  examiner,  who 
at  first  scarcely  saw  it.     He  looked  again  and  said,   "  Yes,  that  is 


30 

right."  It  was  evidently  a  short  cut,  and  a  method  of  proof  which 
he  had  not  observed ;  fortunately  he  asked  me  no  further  questions. 
I  had  then  to  retire  into  a  large  library  while  the  examiners  consulted ; 
in  the  meantime  I  looked  at  a  fac-simile  of  Magna  Charta,  not  a 
word  of  which  I  could  read,  nor  did  I  care  to  read.  In  a  little 
time  I  heard  footsteps  approaching,  but  I  was  still  absorbed  with 
the  fac-simile,  until  touched  on  the  shoulder  by  the  attendant,  who 
informed  me  that  my  presence  was  required  by  the  examiners.  I 
returned  to  them,  and  was  informed  that  they  had  agreed  to  recom- 
mend me  to  the  scholarship  in  the  Glasgow  University.  "  But," 
said  I,  "Will  the  recommendation  be  sufficient?  Can  I  rely  on 
the  scholarship?"  "Yes,  certainly,"  they  replied,  "they  must 
give  it  if  we  recommend  it."  I  was  then  invited  to  take  lunch  with 
them,  during  which  they  asked  me  what  books  I  had  read  in  philosophy ; 
I  mentioned  Locke,  Brown,  Reid,  and  Stewart,  when  one  of  them, 
Mr.  Yates,  I  suppose,  strongly  recommended  me  to  read  "Hartley's 
Observations  on  Man."  I  replied  that  I  thought  I  knew  the  theory 
of  vibrations  and  vibratiuncles,  but  did  not  believe  in  it.  He  ob- 
served that  it  was  useful  for  some  important  practical  principles. 
They  observed  upon  my  health  : — Was  I  strong  enough  for  study  ? 
I  said  I  had  scarcely  ever  been  ill.  They  told  me  I  did  not  look  so 
very  well ;  and  I  told  them  I  had  the  Georgics  to  read  last  night, 
and  related  to  them  what  I  had  gone  through.  They  treated  me  with 
great  courtesy,  and  1  left  them  highly  satisfied,  though  I  had  with 
me  no  paper,  order,  or  certificate,  on  which  I  could  formally  claim 
the  scholarship. 

The  assurance  given  to  me  by  the  examiners  that  their  recom- 
mendation was  as  good  as  the  presentation  to  the  scholarship,  was 
confirmed  by  the  following  : — 

"  Basinghali-street,  5th  October,  1843. 

Dear  Sir, — I  have  the  pleasure  to  inform  you  that  the  recommen- 
dation of  the  Glasgow  College  Committee  in  favour  of  your  appoint- 
ment to  a  vacant  scholarship  in  Glasgow  College,  on  Dr.  Williams' 
foundation,  was  adopted  at  the  late  quarterly  meeting  of  the 
trustees,  and  that  you  were  appointed  accordingly. 

A  communication  containing  directions  with  reference  to  your 
duties  while  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  scholarship  will  be  forwarded 
to  you  in  a  few  days. 

t  I  am,  yours  faithfully, 

Mr.  Brewm  Grant,  SAML.  COTTON. 

Highbury  College,  Highbury." 


31 

The  reason  this  was  addressed  to  me  at  Highbury  College  was 
because  I  went  up  for  examination  as  a  former  student  of  that 
institution,  from  which  the  examiners  would  require  certificates  of 
character,  and  because  I  stayed  there  just  before  the  examination, 
and  frequently  called  there  afterwards  while  staying  at  Lordship-road, 
Stoke  Xewington,  till  my  departure  for  Glasgow.  Besides  the  con- 
firmatory letter,  as  to  the  award  of  the  scholarship,  the  following 
was  sent  to  indicate  my  duties,  as  enforced  by  "  the  trust :" — 

"Basinghall  Street,  London, 

5th  October,  1843. 
To  Mr.  B.  Grant, 

Sir, — Having  been  appointed  to  be  a  student  in  the  University  of 
Glasgow,  on  the  foundation  of  the  late  Rev.  Daniel  Williams,  D.D., 
you  are  requested  to  observe  the  following  directions  : — 

You  are  required  to  enter  as  a  public  student  in  the  Logic  or 
first  Philosophy  class,  and  as  such  to  wear  the  gown,  and  to  obey 
the  laws  of  the  University,  and  follow  the  prescribed  course  with  a 
view  to  your  being  admitted  to  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts,  at  the 
conclusion  of  your  Philosophical  studies. 

Together  with  the  Logic,  you  are  recommended  to  attend  the 
senior  public  Greek. 

Your  Mathematical  studies  should  be  so  conducted  as  to  prepare 
you  to  apply  yourself  in  due  time  with  the  greatest  advantage  to 
Natural  Philosophy,  under  the  Professor  of  that  science. 

You  are  requested  to  present  yourself  to  the  Principal  and  to  the 
Professors  whose  classes  you  intend  to  enter,  some  time  before 
Tuesday,  November  7th,  as  the  lectures  commence  early  on  the 
morning  of  that  day.  You  may  shew  them  this  letter  to  prove  your 
nomination  as  one  of  Dr.  Williams'  scholars. 

Soon  after  the  commencement  of  the  session,  you  will  be  publicly 
examined  in  Greek,  and  with  a  view  to  your  future  credit  and  suc- 
cess as  a  student,  as  well  as  to  justify  your  nomination  by  the 
Trustees,  it  is  their  advice  that  you  should  employ  the  short  interval 
in  considering  how  you  may  best  acquit  yourself  in  that  exami- 
nation. 

You  will  however,  be  entitled  to  receive  those  exhibitions  only  in 
case  you  discharge  regularly  and  diligently  your  duties  as  a  public 
student,  and  you  are  not  to  absent  yourself  at  any  time  from  the 
lectures  or  examinations,  unless  leave  of  absence  be  given  you  by 
the  Principal,  or  by  the  Professors  whom  you  attend. 

If  after  graduation  you  wish  to  continue  your  studies  in  the 
University  of  Glasgow,   you  may  renew  your   application  to  the 


32 

Trustees,  whose  decision  will  very  much  depend  on  your  conduct 
and  progress  as  an  under  graduate. 

"You  are  required  at  the  end  of  every  session  to  transmit  to  the 
Trustees,  certificates  from  the  Professors  whom  you  attend,  of  your 
good  conduct  and  progress  as  a  student,  and  at  the  close  of  every 
session  except  the  first,  a  declaration  that  you  adhere  to  your  in- 
tention of  becoming  a  Protestant  Dissenting  Minister,  in  South 
Britain.  Any  further  communications  respecting  your  course  of 
study,  and*  vour  progress  in  it  will  always  be  acceptable  to  the 
Trustees. 

I  beg  to  assure  you  of  the  heartfelt  and  sincere  gratification, 
with  which  the  Trustees  thus  address  you  ;  they  hope  that  you  will 
earnestly  strive  to  do  credit  to  their  nomination  of  you  ; — that  you 
will  bear  habitually  upon  your  mind  a  sense  of  the  importance  and 
dignity  of  the  sacred  office  to  which  you  are  preparing  to  devote 
yourself,  and  that  according  to  the  words  of  our  excellent  founder, 
you  will  as  the  result  of  the  divine  blessing  upon  your  present 
exertions,  "  prove  useful  and  faithful." 
I  am,  Sir, 

Yours,  with  great  regard, 

(Signed  by  order  of  the  Board,) 

SAML.  COTTON,  Secretary. 

*  had  now  a  month  to  spend  before  starting  for  Glasgow,  and, 
judging  from  probability,  did  not  advance  far  in  Greek,  but  was  for 
the  most  part  otherwise  occupied,  if  not  mentally  dissipated ;  till 
one  foggy  morning,  a  London  November  fog,  hid  my  separation 
from  one  who  had  engaged  my  attention — a  real  Fidus  Achates 
enacting  discreetly  the  character  of  Miss  Graham's  "  Squire,"  in 
Martin  Chuzzlewit.  Certainly  he  had  the  best  of  me  that  day,  for 
he  rolled  back  on  terra  firma  in  a  cab,  while  I  rolled  down  the 
Thames  in  a  steamer.  My  arrival  in  Glasgow,  and  matriculation 
examination  in  Greek,  mentioned  in  the  letter  from  the  solicitor  of 
Dr.  Williams'  Trust,  are  perhaps  sufficiently  described  in  a  letter 
to  Dr.  Legge,  whose  unabated  kindness  and  sympathy  made  him 
always  desirous  to  be  "  posted  up"  as  to  my  proceedings.  To  his 
enquiries,  I  answered  as  follows  : — 

"Glasgow,  December  6,  1843. 

My  dear  Sir, — If  it  were  as  easy  to  write  to  our  friends  as 
it'  is  to  think  about  them,  I  should  not  have  left  yours  so  long 
unanswered  ;  yet  when  I  try  to  justify  my  neglect  I  am  staggered 
by  Emerson's  enquiries,  '  Why  need  I  go  gadding  into  the  scenes 


33 

and  philosophy  of  Greek  and  Italian  history,  before  I  have  washed 
my  own  face  or  justified  myself  to  my  own  benefactor?  How  dare 
I  read  Washington's  Campaigns  when  I  have  not  answered  my  own 
correspondents? '  Do  not  think  from  this  that  I  am  growing  learned, 
and  have  put  Greek  and  Hebrew  roots  in  the  place  of  affection.  I 
am  not  up  to  the  chin  in  Greek.  Italian  has  not  yet  been  introduced 
to  me  ;  and  as  to  the  isolated  transatlantic  hero,  I  am  seldom 
troubled  about  him,  except  to  wonder  how  America  came  to  be  visited 
by  such  a  phenomenon.  But  as  our  business  lies  on  this  side  the 
Atlantic,  we  will  return  ;  and,  first  for  the  north  of  England.  If  I  had 
Pinkerton's  Geography  I  would  endeavour  to  point  you  to  my 
"  whereabouts,"  but  having  no  books  of  reference,  I  must  endeavour 
to  give  an  extemporaneous  description  of  my  position  and  prospects. 
In  order  to  do  this,  I  must,  as  dear  '  Dagesh'  *  used  to  say,  '  lay 
all  my  powers  under  contribution.'  It  will,  however,  be  more  sys- 
tematic if,  like  Bkown,  we  regard  ourselves  as  *  existing  in  time 
and  place.' — I  believe  he  says,  '  space,'  but  this  would  spoil  the 
allusion.  Go  back  then  with  me  in  imagination  to  London  ;  see  me 
on  the  fatal  Tuesday  evening,  before  the  dreaded  crisis  ;  picture  me 
poring  over  the  Ge  orgies,  and  eventually  surrendering  myself  to 
half-an-hour's  repose  on  a  college  hearth-rug ;  see  me  rise  like  a 
ghost  and  seize  the  poker  to  beat  down  a  phantom  which  my  short 
slumber  evoked ;  then  see  me  composing  my  nerves  with  tea, 
wearing  out  the  night  with  a  poker  in  one  hand  and  a  lexicon  in 
the  other.  What  a  preparation  !  However,  for  once,  fortune  ex- 
ceeded herself,  for  she  generally  "  favours  the  brave,"  and  I  obtained 
a  passport  for  Glasgow.  Yet  I  had  a  month  to  spend  in  cultivating 
the  affections,  and  in  preparing  to  become  miserable  by  contrast. 
I  left  Calypso  in  the  south — I  suppose  we  may  call  the  University 
Penelope.  Neptune  was  kinder  to  me  than  to  Ulysses,  for  he  did 
not  shatter  my  raft,  though  the  large  pot  he  keeps  boiling  sent  up 
its  waves  like  so  many  huge  monsters,  bounding  and  frisking  by  each 
other.  You  must  pardon  the  above  classical  allusions ;  I  have  no 
other  excuse  than  that  we  have  just  finished  the  fifth  book  of  the 
Odyssey  :  if  you  are  in  any  difficulty  you  may  perhaps  have  some 
school  notes  by  you  ;  or,  in  the  absence  of  these,  Lempriere's  Dic- 
tionary will  help  you  out.  I  came  by  steamer  to  Newcastle,  and 
thence  by  coach  to  Edinburgh,  getting  there  by  one  o'clock  on 
Sunday  morning.  I  violated  the  sabbath  still  farther  by  continuing 
my  journey,  after  a  short  night  at  Edinburgh,  and  reached  Glasgow 
at  ten  o'clock  on  Sunday  morning.  This  was  not  like  a  theological 
student,  but  I  felt  disinclined  to  stay  anywhere  till  I  reached  here. 

*  ''  Dagesh  ''  is  a  Hebrew  "  point,"  which  we  used  to  point  out  Dr.  Henderson. 


I  stayed  at  an  inn  till  Tuesday,  when  I  found  my  way  to  my  present 
habitation.  I  am  close  to  the  college,  and  though  not  in  an  aristo- 
cratic neighbourhood,  I  dwell  near  to  the  stars — have  set  up  for  a 
transcendentalist — and  look  down  upon  mankind  ;  in  other  words, 
I  live  up  several  stories  high  ;  or,  as  the  Scotch  would  say,  'Brewin 
Grant,  top  flat.'  There  are  books,  walls,  chairs,  and  a  fire  staring 
me  in  the  face ;  with  these  I  hold  daily  converse.  I  have  joined 
but  two  classes,  the  Logic  and  the  Senior  Greek ;  these  pretty 
nearly  employ  me,  especially  as  we  have  two  hours'  attendance  upon 
each.  I  like  the  classes,  and  think  I  am  making  some  little  pro- 
gress. Buchanan  lectures  in  logic  :  the  first  part  is  devoted  to  an 
analysis  of  the  intellectual  powers — we  have  not  reached  "Logic 
Proper"  yet,  or  I  would  send  you  a  syllogism.  He  has  a  very  large 
class  and  is  obliged,  of  course,  to  provide  some  "  stuffing  for  geese;" 
but  altogether  his  lectures  are  very  useful,  and  I  am  fond  of  his 
class.  Last  week  we  began  the  "  Black  Stone  examination."  I  dare 
say  you  understand  all  about  this.  I  was  an  early  victim,  but 
escaped  with  fewer  wounds  than  I  anticipated.  Only  think  of  sitting 
in  a  black  chair,  rather  bright,  as  a  sort  of  bitter,  mocking  contrast 
to  those  who  generally  sit  in  it :  the  seat  cold  stone  and  very  hard, 
to  pourtray  the  trial  connected  with  it.  The  Royal  Arms  behind, 
in  raised  figures  ;  a  fifteen  minutes  sand  glass  fixed  in  the  back 
over  the  top,  as  if  to  protest  against  this  pitiful  waste  of  time. 
This  glass  is  a  moveable  fixture,  and  is  to  measure  your  victimi- 
zation. Logic  students  have  to  "profess"  some  Greek  book. 
Several  were  turned  back  with  the  gracious  assurance  that  they 
might  stand  another  examination  at  the  "  last  day  ;"  what  a  pros- 
pect !  The  chair  I  believe  is  black  from  being  "  where  Satan's  seat 
was."  There  is  a  black-gowned  porter  sitting  behind  the  chair, 
wearing  his  majesty's  livery;  he  turns  the  glass  on  each  new  trial, 
and,  like  Charon,  expects  an  obolus  for  the  dreary  passage.  I 
reached  the  Elysian  fields  without  bribing  Rhadamanthus,  though, 
I  believe,  Miss  Justice  had  her  eyes  bandaged. 

But  I  must  conclude.  I  had  an  additional  link  binding  me  to 
Mr.  Walker,  through  your  letter  of  introduction,  for  Dr.  Morrison 
had  preceded  you  in  that  kind  office.  Mr.  W.  is  very  kind  to  me. 
Mrs.  W.  is  quite  maternal.  I  have  an  unlimited  recourse  to 
"  kippered"  fish,  which  forms  one  line  of  Mr.  W.'s  commerce,  and 
I  sometimes  "  live  up  to  my  privilege."  Will  you  pardon  this  stupid 
letter,  for  I  have  been  so  dull  and  serious  that  it  is  quite  a  relief 
to  inflict  a  joke  on  anyone  who  will  be  kind  enough  to  bear  it. 
Write  soon  to  Yours  affectionately, 

BREWIN  GRANT." 


35 

Besides  the  kindness  and  hospitality  of  Mr.  Walker  and  family, 
which  continued  during  my  whole  stay  in  Glasgow,  I  may  perhaps 
be  permitted  to  mention  the  Rev.  Alexander  Thomson,  M.A.,  now 
of  Manchester,  whose  ministry  I  attended  and  in  whose  house  I  was 
always  cordially  welcomed. 

My  first  Christmas  day  in  Glasgow  I  find  thus  described  in  a 
letter  to  a  friend,  dated  Glasgow,  December  25,1843: — "About 
five  minutes  ago  the  sun  looked  in  at  my  window, — bright  as  in  his 
summer  radiance.  I  could  not  help  calling  some  of  the  inhabitants 
to  see  if  they  knew  what  this  was,  which  was  shining  in  my  room  ; 
they  soon  remembered  that  it  was  the  sun,  though  they  are  not  very 
conversant  with  this  luminary.  I  remarked  yesterday  morning  to 
one  of  them  that  it  had  been  a  wet  night ;  he  replied  in  true  Scot- 
tish— '  Yes,  it's  a  softish*  country  this.'  In  truth  he  is  right.  But 
do  not  think  I  am  complaining  again,  for  I  have  before  me  the  im- 
mediate prospect  of  joining  a  party  of  English  students,  at  the  house 
of  one  who  is  at  once  a  votary  of  study  and  of  the  domestic  affec- 
tions. Setting  his  lady  aside  we  shall  form  a  bachelor's  party,  and 
have  no  other  music  than  the  jingle  of  knives  and  forks  ;  which  I 
cannot  deny  has  an  agreeable  effect,  in  case  of  hunger,  and  differs 
from  music  generally,  for  it  does  not  sound  the  sweetest  in  the  dis- 
tance.    What  an  Epicurean  fancy  !  " 

In  reply  to  a  letter,  in  which  I  had  given  Dr.  Legge  some  of  my 
"  impressions"  of  Scottish  life  and  learning  in  Glasgow,  he  after 
commenting  on  these,  turned,  as  was  his  wont,  to  my  own  practical 
affairs,  enquiring  what  prospects  or  plans  I  had  for  the  summer  and 
autumn ;  since  the  University  Session  is  but  six  months, — from 
November  7  to  the  beginning  of  May.  Thus,  being  solicitous  for  my 
future,  he  enquired  so  early  as  March  12: — "  When  does  your 
session  terminate  ?  You  must  be  casting  your  glance  forward  to  the 
vacation,  and  I  hope  you  will  obtain  congenial  and  profitable  oc- 
cupation somewhere.  [That  is,  in  the  way  of  supplying  pulpits.] 
Of  course  you  will  consult  your  old  friends  at  Highbury.  I  should 
hope  Mr.  Godwin  will  give  you  a  lift.f  I  need  not  say  that  any 
shadow  of  influence  that  I  have  will  always  be  at  your  command.    I 

•  Once  when  I  was  walking  out  in  a  brown  study,  I  was  awakened  from  my 
reverie  by  the  kindly  greeting  of  a  slight  acquaintance  : — "  Eather  soft,  sir." 
For  a  moment  I  felt  that  I  was  no  softer  than  he  was ;  but  before  making  that 
affirmation  I  recovered  myself,  and  remembered  that  he  meant  that  it  was  a  wet 
day. 

+  Generally  speaking,  a  student  is  practically  "  in  the  hands"  of  his  profes- 
sors, especially  as  to  his  first  settlement,  and  often  under  their  thumb  for  life. 
If  a  word  from  the  college  may  not  advance  him,  it  can  retard  him. 


36 

am  glad  you  visit  occasionally  my  friends  (Mr.  and  Mrs.  Walker 
and  family)  at  Portland  Street,  and  find  pleasure  in  their  society ; 
have  the  kindness  to  present  my  regards  to  them." 

The  "  Scholarship"  covered  three  Sessions,  and  success  in  study 
would  have  secured  two  or  three  more,  as  a  "Divinity  Scholarship," 
but  as  my  divinity  course  had  been  secured,  I  had  no  intention  of 
continuing  so  long,  but  to  study  at  Glasgow  for  two  Sessions.  In 
the  intermediate  summer  and  autumn  therefore,  I  should  not  be 
looking  for  a  "  settlement,"  but  only  for  occasional  engagements. 
Both  in  these,  and  in  the  former,  my  relation  to  College  should  have 
been  of  some  advantage,  especially  as  I  went  down  to  Glasgow  with 
plenty  of  promises  of  this  sort.  The  only  aid,  however,  which  I 
received  was  the  publication  of  the  College  Report  without  my 
name,  which  is  the  refined  method  of  revenge  adopted  by  Indepen- 
dent rulers,  in  the  absence  of  more  direct  legislative  powers  of 
persecution.  When  I  became  "  settled"  and  so  far  did  not  need 
recognition,  I  was  put  on  their  list  of  students,  and  my  Glasgow 
career  was  added  to  my  description. 

Some  time  during  my  stay  at  Glasgow,  I  wrote  to  Joshua  Wilson, 
Esq.,  who  had  succeeded  his  father,  to  ask  why  my  name  was 
omitted  from  the  Report,  since,  when  I  should  come  to  seek  a  pas- 
torate, people  might  say  : — What  college  did  you  study  at  ?  and  if 
I  replied  "  Highbury,"  and  if  they  had  the  Report,  they  would  say 
— But  you  are  not  on  the  list  of  those  who  have  passed  through  the 
college.  This  might  be  fatal,  as  it  was  intended  to  be,  so  that  what  they 
dared  not  do  openly  at  the  time, — but  were  forced  to  retract  for  fear 
of  publicity — they  might  do  slyly  afterwards  ;  and  then,  how  could 
a  poor  untried  student  weigh  against  the  weight,  gravity,  and  piety 
of  "  grave  and  reverend  seniors  !  " 

The  reply  to  my  question  was  considered  by  me  to  be  one  of 
those  equivocations  which  men  of  the  world  leave  to — "professors." 
As  you  are  not  a  settled  minister,  and  are  not  now  in  the  college,  I 
do  not  see  how  you  can  be  registered  in  either  of  these  characters. 
Of  course  not ;  but  I  could  have  been  kept  before  the  churches,  as 
having  obtained  a  scholarship,  and  being  a  student  at  Glasgow 
University.  I  was  registered  in  this  latter  capacity  afterwards,  in 
the  year  book,  till  the  entire  list  was  dropped  in  order  not  to  honour 
me.  For  two  or  three  years,  since  an  exhibition  of  "  the  union," 
in  Sheffield,  the  register  of  scholars  under  Dr.  Williams's  trust 
has  been  suppressed ;  but  the  list  of  those  who  obtained  "divinity" 
scholarships  is  still  retained  :  for  my  name  was  not  in  it. 


37 

As  already  observed,  I  attended  the  senior  Greek  and  the  Logic 
class  during  my  first  session  ;  and  as  it  was  required  by  the  terms 
of  Dr.  Williams's  trust,  that  those  enjoying  the  benefit  of  his 
bequest  should  render  an  account  of  their  course  at  the  end  of  each 
session,  I  had  to  send  in  my  certificates  from  the  professors. 

It  was  customary  for  the  chief  prizes  to  be  voted  by  the  students  : 
in  the  Greek  class  I  had  little  chance  of  one  ;  for  though  I  claimed 
to  be  respectable,  I  could  not  pretend  to  be  pre-eminent  amongst 
some  who  seemed  to  have  learned  Greek  before  Gaelic. 

If  my  memory  does  not  fail  me,  our  best  Grecian,  who  often 
astonished  me  by  reciting  more  Greek  than  I  could  English,  was 
the  subsequently  famous  "  A.  K.  H.,"  Mr.,  now  the  Rev.  A.  K.  H. 
Boyd,  whom  I  admired  without  envying. 

I  must  say  I  felt  flattered,  when  at  the  close  of  our  second 
session  I  received  a  note  from  him, — which  with  many  other  papers, 
I  found  a  few  days  ago,  through  hunting  a  mouse  into  an  old  music 
manuscript  box, — and  which  I  may  be  tempted  to  insert  at  the 
proper  date. 

Besides  the  class  prizes  awarded  by  the  open  vote  of  the 
students, — who  on  being  named,  mention  aloud  those  whom  in  turn 
they  consider  deserving  of  the  first,  second  and  third  prize — ther 
are  certificates,  and  in  some  cases  prizes,  awarded  by  the  professors. 
In  the  logic  class  there  was  the  "  Breadalbane  prize,"  of  five  sove- 
reigns in  a  box  that  just  holds  them,  and  on  the  lid  of  which  the 
name  and  date  of  the  honour  are  inscribed  :  this  is  awarded  by  the 
students.  The  other  highest  prize  of  the  class  is  awarded  by  the 
professor,  for  a  "  voluntary  essay"  on  some  prescribed  subject.  I 
had  these  two  to  report  to  Dr.  Williams's  trustees,  with  something 
like  an  "  honourable  mention"  by  the  Greek  professor. 

On  my  return  to  London,  in  May,  1844,  I  sent  this  information, 
with  Class  Certificates,  to  the  Rev.  James  Yates,  M.A.,  one  of  the 
examiners  at  the  Red  Cross-street  Library,  to  lay  before  the 
committee. 

"  CERTIFICATE. 

Enkolment. — I  hereby  certify  that  Mr.  Brewin  Grant  was 
enrolled  a  student  in  the  Senior  Greek  Class  of  the  University  of 
Glasgow,  Session  1843-4. 

Attendance. — That  he  attended  from  Nov.  7  to  May  1. 

Examination. — That  he  ivas  examined  not  fewer  than  eighteen 
times  in  the  course  of  the  session,  and  was  a  very  excellent  and  able 
student. 


Exeecises. — That  he  performed  with  diligence  and  success  the 
prose  exercises  (Greek  Prose  Composition.) 

Behaviour  in  Class. — That  his  behaviour  in  class  was  decorous. 

General  Conduct. — And  that  his  general  conduct,  in  so  far  as 
known  to  me,  was  unexceptionable. 

E.  L.  LUSHINGTON." 

Glasgow  College,  May  1,  1844. 

Logic  Class. — "Mr.  Brewin  Grant  has  conducted  himself  en- 
tirely to  my  satisfaction  as  a  public  student  in  the  Logic  class 
throughout  the  session,  and  has  so  distinguished  himself  by  his 
exertions  and  abilities  as  to  have  had  the  '  Breadalbane  Prize'  for  the 
best  student  in  his  (the  senior)  division  of  the  class  adjudged  to  him 
by  the  votes  of  his  fallow  students. 

ROBERT  BUCHANAN,  L.R.  Professor." 
"  Glasgow  College,  May  1,  1844." 

In  a  later  and  fuller  testimonial  the  professor  describes  the  "Prize" 
as  "  adjudged"  to  Mr.  Brewin  Grant,  "  as  the  best  logician  of  his 
year." 

The  professor's  own  prize,  in  addition,  was  a  copy  of  the  "  Memoir 
of  the  Right  Honourable  Edmund  Burke.  By  James  Prior."  This 
is  stamped  with  the  University  "  arms,"  and  inside  is  written  by 
the  professor : — 

•Logic  Class,  Session  1843 — 4. 

To  Mr.  Brewin  Grant,  for  the  best  Essay  on  the  question — '  Is 
Attention  or  is  Memory  in  any  case  voluntary  ?' 

ROBERT  BUCHANAN,  L.R.  Professor." 
"  Glasgow  College,  May  1,  1844." 

The  above  information,  with  the  original  certificates,  which  were 
returned,  was  sent  to  the  Rev.  James  Yates,  M.A.,  one  of  the  exa- 
miners for  the  Scholarship,  in  order  to  show  the  committee  of  the 
Trust  that  I  had  not  dishonoured  their  appointment,  and  this 
secured  its  continuance.     Mr.  Yates  answered  as  follows  : — 

"  St.  Mary's  Lodge,  York, 

May  17th,  1844. 
Dear  Sir, — Your  letter  with  the  certificates  of  Professors  Lush- 
ington  and  Buchanan  has  been  forwarded  to  this  place,  where  I  am 
residing  for  a  year,  with  a  view  to  the  re-establishment  of  my  health. 
The  certificates  are  very  honourable  to  you,  and  will  be  most  grati- 
fying to  the  committee.  I  shall  send  them  by  post  to  Mr.  Cotton, 
the  secretary,  at  Williams's  library,  in  Red  Cross-street.     Mr. 


39 

Cotton's  office  is  removed  from  Basinghall-street,  which  is  my 
reason  for  directing  to  him  at  the  library,  as  I  do  not  know  his 
address.  But  by  calling  at  the  library,  where  I  had  the  pleasure  of 
seeing  and  examining  you,  you  will  learn  his  address,  and  he  or  his 
clerks  will  give  you  any  information.  I  expect  the  committee  will 
meet  in  three  or  four  weeks  from  this  time  to  examine  the  certifi- 
cates of  the  Glasgow  students,  and  to  prepare  for  the  examination 
of  the  candidates  for  the  Divinity  scholarships.  Your  certificates 
should  therefore  be  in  Mr.  Cotton's  hands  at  that  time,  and  after 
that  he  will  return  them  to  you,  or  keep  them,  as  you  prefer.  With 
best  wishes  on  your  behalf,  I  am,  dear  Sir, 

Yours  faithfully, 

JAMES  YATES. " 
"  P.S. — I  suppose  next  session  you  will  attend  Professor  James 
Thomson  :  you  will  also  find  Professor  Ramsay's  very  useful  and  in- 
teresting.    But  of  course  your  chief  business  will  be  the  Ethic 
class,  Professor  Fleming's." 


Chaptee  IV. 

SUMMER  VACATION,   AND   SECOND   SESSION   AT 

GLASGOW  UNIVERSITY,  1844-5. 

My  first  pleasure  during  the  vacation  was  to  visit  my  friends  in 
London,  on  which  occasion,  also,  I  called  on  the  college  authorities 
at  Highbury.  When  I  mentioned  to  one  of  them  that  he  had  pro- 
mised to  get  me  opportunities  of  "  supplying  "  between  the  sessions, 
and  that  I  had  written  him  a  letter  reminding  him  of  his  promise, 
and  acquainting  him  with  the  course  of  my  studies,  he  reached 
down  my  note  and  informed  me  that  I  commenced  one  sentence 
without  a  capital  letter.  When  he  saw  the  involuntary  curl  of  my 
lip  at  the  pedantry  of  the  observation  to  a  ministerial  student  who 
was  anxious  about  his  immediate  prospects,  he  replied,  "  Perhaps, 
Mr.  Grant,  you  consider  these  but  small  things,"  and  when  I  cor- 
dially concurred  under  the  circumstances,  he  assured  me  that  trifles 
oftenimpeded  one's  progress.  And  I  was  sure  that  trifling  with  honour 
and  sacred  duty  was  often  a  greater  impediment,  put  by  some  in 
the  way  of  others.  When  I  reminded  him  of  my  business,  and  his 
promise,  he  magnanimously  brought  up  the  old  affair  which  hap- 
pened before  his  promise  was  made  ;  and  thus  gave  me  an  exempli- 
fication of  frank  Christian  forgiveness  for  having  declined  to  submit 
to  an  indignity. 


40 

I  reminded  him  that  the  committee  of  its  own  accord  cancelled 
its  resolution,  and  recalled  me  to  college  :  he  said,  "  Yes,  bnt  your 
conduct  must  make  an  impression.'"  By  which  he  meant,  that  not 
daring  to  injure  me  in  the  first  rash  way  into  which  they  plunged, 
they  would  quietly  "  remember"  me  for  the  future. 

Another  professor  on  whom  I  called  the  same  day,  referred  also 
to  the  former  rebellion  ;  and  when  I  said,  "  but  you  know  that  was 
settled,  and  I  was  re-called  ;  "  answered,  "  Yes  !  to  be  sure, — we 
put  your  name  on  the  book  ! "  The  emphasis  with  which  this  was 
said  eloquently  affirmed  that  the  transaction  described  was  what  a 
Jew  would  call  "  one  leetle  trick,"  to  adjourn  their  revenge  to  "a 
convenient  season."  I  ought  to  say  that  neither  of  these  professors 
was  Dr.  Wm.  Smith. 

I  had  happily  at  the  time,  besides  a  hopeful  disposition,  more 
agreeable  occupation  to  divert  me  from  "  over  much  sorrow;"  and 
upon  the  whole  enjoyed  my  six  months  in  England,  four  of  which  I 
find  summarily  described  in  a  letter  to  a  Scotch  student  who  lodged 
with  me  in  the  same  "top  flat,"  during  my  first  session  at  Glasgow. 

This  letter  was  written  during  a  five  or  six  weeks'  preaching 
sojourn  at  Wednesbury,  called  "  Wedgebury,"  in  the  "Black 
Country."  My  services  were  rendered  in  a  chapel  that  had  made 
several  promises  of  going  down  a  coalpit,  and  I  <might  perhaps 
have  been  tempted  to  "  settle"  there,  only  providentially  a  friend  of 
mine — and  an  old  fellow- student  at  Highbury,  then  living  near,  and 
now  "without  pastoral  charge"  in  London, — offended  the  suscepti- 
bilities of  the  people,  by  telling  them  I  was  much  too  good  for  the 
place  ;  and  that  as  for  some  of  them  my  "  sermons  were  pearls  cast 
before  swine."  This  was  his  way  of  throwing  "  oil  on  the  waters," 
and  would  naturally  have  "  set  the  Thames  on  fire." 

During  such  encouraging  circumstances,  I  wrote  to  my  Glasgow 
fellow-lodger  thus : — 

"  Wednesbury,  Staffordshire,  August,  1844. 

My  dear  Mc, — I  am  heartily  ashamed  of  leaving  your  letter  so 
long  unanswered,  but  for  the  last  three  months  I  have  been  busy, — 
engaged  in  preaching  most  of  the  time,  and  am  but  just  now  in  pos- 
session of  a  little  leisure. 

The  region  I  am  now  in,  and  where  I  have  been  preaching  some 
time,  is  a  dreary  one ;  the  only  mountains  being  heaps  of  cinders 
and  dross  from  the  mines  and  ironworks.  I  have  often  determined 
to  send  you  a  line,  and  wondered  how  you  were  getting  along,  for 
you  must  not  measure  my  interest  in  your  welfare  by  the  frequency 
of  my  correspondence. 


41 

I  hope  yon  have  done  some  considerable  study  in  the  way  of 
reviewing  logic,  reading  some  moral  philosophy,  with  a  little  Latin 
and  mathematics.  No  doubt  you  have  had  many  hindrances  and 
temptations,  but  you  have  still  two  good  months  left,  in  which  to 
re-summon  your  resolution  and  '  buckle  to'  again. 

My  time  has  been  very  much  taken  up  by  writing,  travelling, 
preaching,  &c,  so  that  my  poor  studies  of  the  University  sort  have 
been  sadly  neglected." 

My  next  accounts  written  at  the  time,  describe  me  as  having 
arrived  at  Glasgow,  and  fallen  headlong  into  the  electioneering 
commotion,  in  which  the  students  of  the  University  were  arranged 
on  the  respective  sides  of  Mr.  Rutherford  and  the  Earl  of  Eglinton, 
for  Lord  Rector.  It  was  reckoned  a  question  of  Radical  and  Tory, 
and  may  be  understood,  if  it  is  worth  understanding,  by  extracts 
from  two  letters  written  by  me  at  the  time,  which  help  me  to  com- 
plete my  tale.  One  of  them  is  partly  eaten  by  the  mouse  that 
helped  me  to  find  them  all ;  he  would  perhaps  eventually  have  been 
exhibited  as  the  "  learned  mouse,"  if  he  had  not,  like  most  learned 
people,  been  caught  in  a  trap.  Writing  to  a  friend  in  London  to 
describe  my  journey  to  and  arrival  at  Glasgow,  I  said  : — 

"  Glasgow,  December  13th,  1844. — Last  "Wednesday  evening, 
yon  (in  London)  were  to  hear  '  Israel  in  Egypt,'  just  at  the  very 
time  I  was  entering  Glasgow.  There  was  a  remarkable  coincidence 
in  this,  for  in  very  truth  this  is  my  Egypt,  only  (as  all  analogies 
must  fail),  I  find  no  land  of  Goshen  here. 

"It  was  raining  when  I  came  here,  and  has  not  done  yet.  There 
is  a  very  brisk  trade  amongst  the  carpenters  just  now,  which  can 
only  be  accounted  for  by  the  general  expectation  of  a  new  ark, 
which  is  to  contain  the  whole  of  the  inhabitants.  But  if  my  locality 
here  is  not  quite  a  '  summum  bonum,'  the  '  unsocial  ocean'  on 
which  I  rode  down  was  no  less  disagreeable. 

"We  travelled  in  the  teeth  of  the  winds  and  struggled  with  old 
(Eolus.  You  may  imagine  how  pleasantly  we  were  situated  when  I 
tell  you  that  a  respectable  old  gentleman,  who  kept  me  company 
during  the  night  in  the  steamer's  cabin,  several  times  invoked  a 
sacred  name,  most  devotionally,  as  we  were  being  gently  rocked. 
Ee  thought  I  was  fast  asleep,  and  when  he  was  disturbed  from  his 
duties  by  seeing  me  aroused,  he  enquired  after  my  welfare,  adding 
that  he  had  "been  conseedering  whether  to  take  a  '  leettle  toady.' 
Now  I  had  distinctly  heard  him  at  his  devotions,  not  two  minutes 
before  ; — a  wag  would  perhaps  suggest  that  the  good  man  had  mis- 
taken the  name  of  the  steward,  or  that  having  tried  one  means  he 
c 


42 

thought  of  trying  another.  But  I  could  not  laugh,  for  I  had  to  go 
upon  deck  and  lay  hold  on  the  ropes,  or  I  should  have  mingled 
with  the  elements,  and  have  become  an  unlucky  ghost,  wandering 
restlessly  over  the  face  of  the  waters. 

"The  scene  altogether  was  rather  puzzling; — anon  the  vessel 
seemed  to  nod  familiarly  to  the  north  pole,  and  then  as  politely  to 
salute  the  south;  while  all  above  us  appeared  as  if  Neptune  was 
quite  'jolly,'  and  was  just  shaking  about  his  large  blue  paper-cap. 

"By  the  way  I  must  tell  you  all  the  rest  another  time.  "We  have  a 
meeting  very  soon  about  electing  a  Lord  Rector ;  we  have  had 
some  amusing  scenes,  which  you  shall  hear  of  anon." 

The  following  is  part  of  the  promised  communication  : — 

"  Glasgow,  December,  1844. 

"  I  think  you  left  me,  having  just  arrived  at  Glasgow,  and  become 
absorbed  at  once — like  a  true  poet,  riding  on  his  fiery  Pegasus 
directly  in  medeas  res.  My  best  plan  will  be  to  begin  at  the  middle 
again.  The  first  night  that  'Israel'  was  in  'Egypt'  there  was 
a  meeting  of  the  students  about  the  electioneering  affair,  and  the 
radicals  were  much  surprised  at  my  wonderful  indifference  in  not 
making  a  flaming  speech  for  liberty  and  Rutherford,  just  at  the  very 
time  when  I  could  have  submerged  the  University  and  the  city  itself 
in  the  sea  that  carried  me  hither.  Yet,  after  all,  Rome  has  a 
wonderful  influence  on  the  Romans,  and  so  I  could  not  quite  escape 
the  prevailing  epidemic  ;  accordingly,  next  evening,  I  attended  a 
meeting  of  the  '  liberal  committee,'  and  was  appointed  to  the 
honourable  office  of  speaker  at  a  meeting  to  be  held  on  the  coming 
day  :  both  sides  were  to  be  present,  and  three  chosen  men  of  Israel 
were  to  engage  in  a  pitched  battle  with  three  of  the  uncircumcised 
tories.  I,  being  unfortunately  considered  to  possess  ready  wit — in 
other  words,  a  disinclination  to  blush — was  appointed  to  bring  up  the 
rear,  as  it  was  very  shrewdly  suspected  that  in  a  mixed  assembly  the 
last  speakers  would  require  both  tactics  and  brass.  The  day  arrived, 
and  amidst  much  uproar  the  six  selected  mounted  the  rostrum,  each 
one  to  sing  or  say  something  in  favour  of  the  rector  he  proposed, 
and  to  abuse  the  opposing  candidate  in  as  forcible  a  style  as  he 
could  possibly  manage.  It  was  a  good  opportunity  for  a  young 
Demosthenes  to  practise  on  this  noisy  batch  of  literaries  instead  of 
talking  to  the  '  wild  and  wasteful  ocean.'  At  last  a  general  com- 
motion arose ;  the  meeting  separated  before  my  oration  was  let  off ; 
and  there  was  I,  filled  to  the  very  brim  with  my  speech,  like  a 
bottle  of  champagne  without  a  cork-screw.  This  was  very  sad  :  but 
our  party  rallied  and  so  did  the  other,  when  both  sides  had  separate 


43 

meetings.  My  speech  was  in  request,  for  my  compeers  had  emptied 
themselves.  Thanking  them  for  the  opportunity  of  quieting  my 
mind  by  relieving  it,  I  proceeded  to  tell  them  what  I  was  going 
to  say  to  the  other  party.  Many  were  for  the  space  of  half  an  hour 
grievously  afflicted  with  pains  in  the  side  as  I  endeavoured  to 
analyse  the  tory  bills  and  speeches  ;  but  after  sufficiently  feeding 
the  appetite  of  risibility,  I  proceeded  to  expatiate  more  grandilo- 
quently on  the  nobleness  of  our  liberal  principles.  Since  that 
memorable  occasion  I  have  thought  that  this  speech,  so  near  being 
still-born  and  so  miraculously  saved,  should  still  further  be  defended 
by  being  put  into  a  letter,  as  into  an  ark  of  bulrushes  and  safely 
deposited  in  the  Nile,  where  Sir  James  Graham,  or  some  kind 
lady,  might  possibly  become  enamoured  of  it,  especially  it  the  babe 
should,  by  weeping,  powerfully  excite  compassion.  You  are  re- 
quested to  read  it  with  the  comment  of  your  mind,  and  to  consider 
throughout  how  many  things  have  escaped  my  memory  which, 
springing  up  on  occasion,  are  not  hinted  at  in  my  original  MSS. 
Moreover,  you  must  bear  in  mind  the  powerful  emphasis  of  my 
voice  and  manner,  adding  the  force  of  elocution  to  the  brilliancy  of 
wit. — Why  have  not  I  as  good  a  right  to  praise  my  speech  as  Mrs. 

to  be  proud   of  her  baby? — You  may  yourself  supply  the 

introduction,  only  taking  care  that  it  be  appropriate,  not  written 
before-hand  but  pat  to  the  occasion.  After  which,  you  may  proceed 
thus  : — Gentlemen, — This  is  an  honour  thrust  upon  me.  I  intended 
to  have  answered  the  speeches  of  the  tories,  and  by  this  means  to 
have  eked  out  my  own ;  but  as  they  set  nothing  up  I  have  nothing 
to  knock  down.  Had  that  meeting  continued,  therefore,  my  position 
being  speechless  would  have  been  more  pitiful  than  that  of  nry  tory 
colleague,  who  seemed  to  be  quite  overflowing.  You  will  bear  with 
us  then  if,  passing  over  their  speeches,  we  seek  to  extract  some 
amusement  from  what  they  have  written.  Here  is  a  series  of  their 
hand-bills,  good  subjects  for  dissection.  In  discussing  these  we 
shall  assume  the  position  of  lecturer  on  grammar,  taste,  logic,  and 
ethics." 

I  had  also  written  to  the  Rev.  De.  Legge,  giving  him  an  account 
of  my  engagements,  in  acknowledging  which  he  wrote  : — 

''Leicester,  December  24th,  1844. — It  is  time  that  I  shorld 
answer  your  kind  notification  of  your  arrival  in  Glasgow  ;  I  am  giad 
you  are  there  again.  Your  residence  within  the  precincts  of  a 
University,  your  collisions  with  the  keen  and  vivacious  Scottish 
youths,  your  studies  to  sustain  mastery  and  become  rich  in  distinc- 
tions at  the  hands  of  your  compeers  and  professors,  will  deprive 
o2 


44 

your  character  of  none  of  its  native  raciness,  the  vis  vivida  of  your 
mother-wit  and  reason  already  praised,  and  you  will  come  out  all 
the  better  accomplished  and  accoutred  for  the  larger  arena  of  the 
church  and  the  world : — no  doubt  with  a  B.A.  attached  to  your 
name.  I  cannot  question  that  you  will  have  free  course  and  be 
glorified  as  aforetime  and  much  more  abundantly.'  Asking  for  the 
continuance  of  particulars  as  to  my  studies,  associations,  and  aims, 
he  continued: — "  You  need  not  be  told  that  I  feel  an  interest  in 
your  concerns,  and  you  have  it  in  your  power  to  render  your  de- 
tails interesting  indeed." 

During  the  second  session  the  Bkitish  Anti-State  Church  Asso- 
ciation advertised  for  the  best  essay  on  "  The  Church  of  Christ, — 
what  is  it  ?"  and  soon  afterwards  for  a  second  essay,  for  both  of  which 
I  competed.  The  result  as  to  the  first  is  given  in  the  following  offi- 
cial correspondence,  to  which  the  mouse  aforesaid  directed  me,  by 
leading  to  a  box  in  which  letters  had  been  packed  for  some  ten 
years. 

I  wish  to  draw  special  attention  to  the  marked  passages,  wherein 
I  was  told  that  I  must  not  be  so  liberal  as  to  hint  that  there  can  be 
any  doubt  or  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  mode  and  subjects  of 
baptism,  a  theory  which  appears  to  me  to  be  slightly  ritualistic. 
British  Anti-state  Church  Association, 

Aldine  Chambers,  Paternoster  Eow, 

London,  January  18th,  1845. 
My  dear  Sir, — Although  I  am  not  yet  authorised  to  make  a  formal  communi- 
cation to  you  in  the  name  of  the  Executive  Committee,  I  beg  to  congratulate  you 
upon  being  the  successful  competitor  for  the  prize  tract — The  Church  of  Christ  — 
what  is  it  ? 

I  send  you  herewith  slips  of  the  Tract  in  type,  which  we  intend  for  publica- 
tion on  the  first  of  February.  You  -will  observe  two  paragraphs  marked  ;  the 
first  of  them  in  slip  No.  3  contains  an  assertion  which  our  Baptist  friends 
icould  not  admit  to  be  true,  and  which  must,  therefore,  in  order  to  your  recep- 
tion of  the  prize,  be  either  wholly  omitted  or  so  far  modified  as  not  to  imply 
that  the  rite  of  baptism,  as  to  its  mode  and  subjects  is  left  in  uncertainty. 
The  second  paragraph  which  I  have  marked  may,  perhaps,  considering  the 
main  object  of  the  Association,  be  regarded  as  episodical. 

Will  you  be  so  kind  as  to  return,  by  the  next  post  if  possible,  the  enclosed 
proofs,  with  your  corrections,  as  we  are  already  straitened  in  t  Jie,  and  it  is  of 
the  utmost  importance  that  we  keep  faith  with  the  public  ? 
You  will  probably  hear  from  me  formally  next  week. 
I  am,  my  dear  Sir, 

Yours  sincerely, 

EDWARD  MIALL. 
Mr.  Brewin  Grant. 

The  other  paragraph  objected  to  was  a  concluding  prayer,  of  which 
I  was  proud  as  Miltonic,  and  if  the  gentleman  who  borrowed  a 


45 

volume  of  my  pamphlets  had  returned  it  I  should  quote  that  prayer 
here, — episodically.  I  begged  that  the  prayer  might  remain,  and  it 
did,  in  the  said  tract.  It  was  with  some  reluctance  that  I  submitted 
to  modify  the  paragraph  on  baptism,  which  permitted  people  to  get 
to  heaven  without  immersion,  and  even  on  the  Quaker  principle  of 
only  a  spiritual  baptism,  which  I  always  regarded  as  the  only  essen- 
tial,— the  rest  being  signs  and  modes, — respecting  which  every 
man  being  fully  persuaded  in  his  own  mind,  will  be  accepted  of 
Him  to  Whom  alone  we  stand  or  fall.  I  was  already  in  advance  of 
my  liberal  friends,  being  a  great  admirer  of  the  only  perfect  liberal 
I  know,  the  Apostle  Paul.  However  I  submitted  so  far,  and  having 
fulfilled  the  condition  of  receiving  the  prize  I  had  won,  was  congra- 
tulated and  rewarded  as  follows  : — 

The  "  copy  of  the  award"  referred  to   in  this  letter  was  cut  out 
of  the  Xonconformist,  and  reads  thus  : — 

BRITISH  ANTI-STATE  CHURCH  ASSOCIATION. 

PKEMIUM    TRACT. 

THE  CHURCH  OF  CHRIST— WHAT  IS  IT  ?"— The  Execu- 
tive Committee  have  much  pleasure  in  announcing  to  their  friends  the 
following  Report,  on  the  subject  of  the  First  Prize  Tract,  communicated  to  them 
by  those  gentlemen  whom  they  requested  to  take  upon  them  the  responsibility  of 
deciding  upon  the  relative  merits  of  the  several  MSS.  sent  in  previously  to  the 
First  of  December  last : — 


"  We,  the  undersigned,  having  been  appointed  by  the  Executive  Committee  to 
award  the  prize  for  the  Tract,  '  The  Church  of  Christ — What  is  it  V — agree  in 
the  following  Report : — 

"  That  thirty  four  manuscripts  having  been  put  into  our  hands  for  adjudica- 
tion, we  concur  in  recommending  that  signed  o  ysypxtpx,  ykypxtya,,  as  best 
adapted  to  the  object  contemplated  by  the  Committee ;  and  that  in  making  this 
selection  we  cannot  refrain  from  expressing  our  gratification  at  the  high°order 
of  talent  displayed  by  several  of  the  competitors,  and  particularly  by  the  one 
bearing  the  signature  '  U.  C.  C.  Hope,'  which,  although  so  different  in  style  from 
tbat  to  which  the  prize  has  been  adjudicated,  approaches  so  near  to  "it  in  its 
merits  as  to  have  rendered  preference  a  matter  of  some  difficulty. 

"F.  A.  COX. 

"J.  P.  MURSELL. 

"EDWARD  HIALL. 


The  Premium  Tract  will  be  published,  price  Twopence,  on  the  1st  Feb.,  1845. 
The  MSS.  of  the  unsuccessful  competitors  may  be  had  on  application  at  the 
Society's  Office,  Aldine  Chambers,  Paternoster-row. 

F.  A.  COX. 
E.  MIALL. 
J.  M.  HARE. , 

I  may  here  state,  that  I  still  have  the  conviction  thai;  the  ritualistic 
water  element,  which  nearly  destroyed  my  chance  as  to  the  first 
o  3 


Secretaries. 


46 

prize,  robbed  me  of  the  second,  as  when  I  sent  for  the  MSS.  of  that, 
the  envelope  containing  my  motto  was  cut  open,  and  subsequent 
explanations  of  that  curious  circumstance  did  not  remove  my  sus- 
picions, while  many  circumstances  confirmed  them.    • 

One  chief  part  of  nry  work  this  session  was  to  prepare  for  the 
B.A.  examination  ;  a  not  very  flattering  account  of  which  I  find  in 
a  letter  to  Dr.  Legge,  where  after  enumerating  some  causes  of  delay 
in  writing  to  him,  I  added — (Glasgow,  April  23,  1845.)  "  That 
wondrous  undertaking,  the  B.A.,  has  had  a  share  in  the  robbery, 
and  may  after  all  give  me  no  compensation.  I  was  nearly  stranded 
at  the  very  outset.  The  Latin  I  had  read  over  very  hastily,  the 
third  book  of  Livy  had  occupied  a  few  days,  amongst  other  duties  ; 
and  this  was  three  weeks  before  the  examination  commenced.  I  had 
but  just  time  to  revise  all  except  that,  and  could  read  the  rest  well, 
but  was  "  called"  only  on  that.  I  could  have  absconded,  my  faculties 
were  all  wool-gathering;  and  I  stumbled  fearfully  on  the  dark 
mountains.  Some  few  dunces  present  chuckled  over  my  dilemma, 
like  Philistines  at  the  shearing  of  Samson.  One  English  gentle- 
man proclaimed  in  the  courts — '  Grant  has  stuck  in  the  Latin,' 
but  though  this  was  made  known  in  an  '  Io  triumphe'  style,  it  was 
leceived  very  uncongenially  by  some  worthier  Scots.  Caledonia 
tor  ever  ! 

"I  offered  to  come  up  again,  and  explained  privately  to  Professor 
Ramsay;  but  he  said  this  was  inadmissible,  yet  that  I  could  retrieve 
it  at  the  written  composition.  Alas  !  I  told  him  I  had  no  hope 
of  that.  However  in  Greek,  logic,  and  morals,  I  was  equal  to  any 
in  each,  and  better  than  any  altogether.  So  I  had  still  some  hope. 
The  Latin  composition  is  on  Thursday  of  this  week,  but  I  am  so 
tired  of  work  as  to  be  unwilling  to  apply  very  much  to  it. 

"  Now  here  is  a  pretty  condition  for  a  hero,  whatever  afterwards 
may  be  said  in  his  praise,  as  thus  : — he  reads  Greek  well ;  is  good 
at  logic  and  philosophy  ;  writes  in  a  tidy  style,  &c, — the  eternal 
and  deafening  response  will  be,  c  ay,  but  he  stuck  in  the  Latin.' 
But  we  must  leave  epitaphs  until  our  decease,  and  consider  first  the 
duties  of  life.  '  Ay,  there's  the  rub,' — '  there's  the  respect  that 
makes  calamity  of  so  long  life.'  However,  we  must  sow  without 
regard  to  the  clouds,  trusting  to  the  eternal  seasons.  I  should  have 
said  vernal,  but  let  it  pass  ;  what  has  been  said  or  done  is  thence- 
forth irrevocable.  It  is  altogether  uncertain  what  kind  of  a  recep- 
tion England  will  give  me.  I  shall  perhaps  be  returned  upon  your 
hands,  like  a  bad  penny  ;  but  if  you  can  pass  me  between  two  good 
half-crowns  I  am  sure  you  will ;  Sir. has  promised  to  recommend 


47 

me,  should  a  suitable  opening  occur  ;  but  I  have  very  little  faith  in 
that  quarter.  What  will  you  say  to  rue,  being  silent  so  long,  and 
writing  now  when  I  need  your  help  ?  Yet  such  is  the  case  ;  and 
the  only  apology  to  be  offered  for  all,  is  that  I  am,  dear  Sir,  affec- 
tionately yours." 

"  "Wouid  the  company  like  a  little  fresh  air  ?"*  was  the  novel  but 
appropriate  question  put  suddenly  once  to  a  crowded  meeting, 
listening  to  a  discussion,  which  was  becoming  as  close  and  warm  as 
:he  atmosphere.  The  opening  of  the  windows  restored  the  equili- 
brium of  both.  Since  recreation  is  the  best  handmaid  of  education, 
and  as  in  after  life  people  become  "  stived-up"  in  their  affairs  till 
;hey  are  feverish  and  incapable,  and  recover  mastery  over  busi- 
ness only  by  leaving  it  for  a  while,  so  let  us  now  take  a  trip  down 
r he  Clyde,  where  I  went  about  this  time  for  ventilation. 

I  am  enabled  to  take  the  reader  with  me  by  the  aid  of  a  love 
letter,  which  was  returned  to  me  when  I  was  married,  and  which 
runs  thus : — 

"  I  promised  to  send  you  a  sketch  of  my  visit  to  the  Highlands,  but  scarcely 
think  it  -will  interest  you  very  much  though  I  enjoyed  it,  and  feel  much  stronger 
for  the  trip  ;  but  you  know  how  different  it  is  to  read  about  a  scene  and  to  visit 
it.  We  (Mac.  and  I)  started  on  Thursday  morning,  a  day  set  apart  here  for 
fasting  and  preparation  for  the  half-yearly  sacrament.  The  shops  were  all  closed 
as  if  on  a  sabbath,  and  it  seemed  almost  a  desecration  to  be  going  on  a  journey 
of  pleasure  ;  but  fasts  are  made  for  those  who  have  pampered  themselves  tco 
much.  A  student  who  has  given  his  best  vigour  to  the  dim  taper  needs  other 
methods  of  treatment ;  and,  at  any  rate,  nature  seemed  to  approve,  for  the  day 
was  an  auspicious  one,  and  plainly  invited  to  a  country  ramble.  Nor  were  we 
quite  alone  in  our  pursuit  of  pleasure,  for  the  Broomielaw,  where  we  started  from, 
was  thronged,  the  river  crowded  with  boats,  the  quay  with  people  ;  some  almost 
trampling  upon  each  other  to  reach  the  boats,  others  eagerly  watching  the  de- 
parture of  so  many  pleasure  seekers.  Careful  mothers  handed  their  little  ones 
to  the  police,  to  be  almost  thrown  into  the  starting  vessels,  whilst  they  themselves 
summoning  unusual  agility,  leaped  upon  the  boat.  All  was  hurry  and  confusion, 
but  one  poor  creature,  rarely  adorned  for  the  occasion,  shrunk  back  from  the 
'earful  task,  and  whilst  officious  hands  would  have  helped  her  off  the  quay  to 
take  her  chance  of  alighting  on  board,  she  was  in  a  strait,  was  cautious  and 
mdetermined,  till,  with  disappointment  and  dismay  written  on  her  face,  she  saw 
>ur  jovial  steamer  panting  along,  and  waving  adieu  with  columns  of  smoke. 
Che  commencing  of  the  Clyde  from  here  is  rather  narrow,  and  the  low  stone 
nounds,  raised  as  an  apology  for  banks,  were  washed  by  the  swell  caused  by  our 
iteamer.  In  a  narrow  river  a  pleasure  boat  seems  of  some  consequence,  and 
nakes  considerable  stir  (like  a  country  squire  among  clowns),  but  in  a  main  sea 
lie  finest  vessel  may  be  lost  amidst  the  billows  whilst  the  eddies  of  its  own  path 
ire  unperceived.  The  best  description  of  our  fellow  travellers  is  that  they  were 
a  motley  group,  the  most  distinguished  being  an  old  blind  fiddler  and  his  vision- 

*The  Rev.  Howard  Hinton,  II. A.,  in  the  Grant  &  Holyoake  Cowper-street 
Discussion. 


48 

gifted  companion,  the  rest  were  composed  of  one  of  a  sort  from  all  the  circum- 
stances, shapes,  and  conditions  of  human  life.  Their  effects  and  general  baggage 
were  thrown  into  one  general  heap,   an  indiscriminate  assemblage  of  deal  boxes 
and  hair  trunks,  reticules  and  market  baskets,  band-boxes  and  brown  paper  par- 
cels ;  some  of  the  good  housewives  had  evidently  studied  domestic  economy  under 
Mrs.  John   Gilpin,  and  were  taking  bread  and  cheese  with  them  to  make  up  a 
wedding  dinner.     The  river  gradually  widened,  and  we  ascended  the  paddle-boxes 
to  gain  a  more  extensive  prospect.     The  scenery  at  first  was  not  very  striking, 
yet  soft,  green,  and  lovely,  as  the  first  footsteps  of  spring.     The  interest  and 
beauty  deepened  as  the  surrounding  plain  lifted  itself  into  gentle  slopes,  here 
and  there  variegated  with  clusters  of  trees,  sometimes  a  gently  rising  hill  appears 
clothed  with  wood,  and  through  this  sylvan  veil  a  princely  mansion  looks  forth; 
at  others,  a  mountain  cultivated  to  the  very  summit  promises,  like  a  true  Ceres, 
to  meet  the  coming  autumn,  having  his  brow  crowned  with  yellow  corn.  Through 
all  this,  the  noble  river  marches  in  his  daily  ebb  and  flow,  meekly  bearing  all  the 
burdens  man  may  lay  upon  him;  nay,  on  that  day  he  seemed  peculiarly  joyous, 
greeted  us  all  with  a  mild  beaming  countenance,  gathering  up  his  face  into  an 
eddyirjg  smile,  and  reflected  the  brightness  of  the  sun  as  he  bore  us  gaily  along. 
In  most  of  the  towns  and  villages  alongside,  you  might  see  an  unpretending  "free 
church,"  its  roof  not  quite  covered  in.     In  Bowling,  about  twelve  miles  down,  on 
the  right  bank,  the  new  church  reared  its  front  at  one  end  of  the  village,  and  thb 
eld  one  at  the  other.     A  little  beyond,  and  above  this  village,  as  an  introduction 
to  Highland  scenery,  a  lofty  mountain  stretched  upward  its  huge  mass,  sleeping 
in  the  sunlight.     Some  distance  further,  on  the  same  side,  stands  a  sturdy, 
rugged,  rock-mountain,  frowning  on  ail  around  as  if  placed  there  to  keep  in  check 
its  neighbour.  Dumbarton  castle.     This  latter  place  is  a  huge  heap  of  rock,  exca- 
vated into  a  fortress ;  an  enemy  would  think  it  a  dumb  solitary  place  until  he 
heard  the  cannon  roar  from  their  concealment.     There  are  a  few  lines  of  wall 
along  some  parts  of  its  base,  and  some  houses  standing  within  them  bearing  all 
appearance  of  serenity  and  peace.     A  kind  of  bannister  leads  up  to  its  peaking 
summit,  by  which  some  were  ascending  as  we  passed;  it  guides  to  a  little  tower 
crowning  the  castle   and  giving  the  only  appearance  of  a  military  fort.     Beside 
this  castle,  flows  the  river  Leven,  which,  leaving  its  fertile  vales,  joins  the  Clyde 
in  his  march  towards  the  ocean.     Between  this  castle  and  its  rugged  neighbour, 
mentioned  before,   is  a  neat  little  pyramidal  monument  "  to  Henry  Bell,"  the 
first  steam  navigator  in  Europe;  and  who  introduced  steamers  on  the  Clyde,  some 
years  before  our  own  gloiious  Thames  heard  their  panting.     Around  this  monu- 
ment is  a  trim  little  garden,  enclosed  by  a  stone  wall,  itself  apparently  a  time- 
hallowed  ruin,  and  the  bright  green  ivy  mantling  its  stones  seems  to  cover  its 
decay  with  the  youthful  garland  of  spring.    This  unique  and  charming  assemblage 
appears  placed  between  these  two  growling  monsters,  as  an  emblem  of  the  arts  of 
peace,  and,  by  separating  such  ferocious  combatants,  gives  us  the  promise  that 
wars  shall  cease  when  man  grows  better  and  wiser.     A  few  miles  further  down, 
on  the  opposite  side,  is  '  Port  Glasgow.'     It  has  a  strong  well  laid  out  harbour, 
and  was  once  a  very  flourishing  mercantile  station,  its  chief  business  consisting 
in  ship  building ;  but  since  the  Clyde  has  been  deepened  and  made  navigable 
for  sailing  vessels  as  far  as  Glasgow,  this  port  has  considerably  declined.     It  is 
a  substantial,  well-built  place,  and  its  harbour  is  still  visited  by  many  ships. 
The  next  place  of  consequence  is  Greenock,  an  enterprising,  bustling  town,  in 
which  the  celebrated  "Watt  was  born.     On  the  quay  is  the  custom  house,  a  very 
noble  building,  and  looks  as  if  made  to  command  the  submission  of  reluctant 
vessels.     From  Greenock  the  Clyde  opens  into  a  wide  space,  the  left  leading  out 


49 

into  the  sea,  the  right  leading  to  Loch  Long  and  Holy  Loch,  lying  beside  each 
other  like  two  twins,  with  an  immense  mountain  range  to  keep  the  peace  between 
them.  On  before  us,  opposite  the  Clyde,  lay  Dunoon,  a  pleasantly  situated  vil- 
lage on  the  coast,  having  hills  stretching  away  behind.  It  is  a  nest  for  Glasgow- 
summer  swallows,  and  certainly  is  a  pleasant  place  to  flit  to,  being  studded  all 
along  the  beach  with  elegant  modern  cottages  and  mansions.  We  touched  at  this 
place  and  then,  turning  to  the  right,  sailed  up  Holy  Loch,  at  the  end  of  which 
is  another  pretty  village,  called  Kilmun,  and  having  still  more  splendid  hills 
behind  it.  Our  destination  was  not  far  from  this,  a  lovely  vale,  surrounded  by 
what  seemed  to  us  to  be  nature's  wildest  sublimities.  We  were  not  satisfied  with  the 
-wonders  which  the  day  revealed  to  us,  but  must  wander  forth  to  meet  the  "  glimpses 
of  the  moon."  The  mountains  seemed  to  throw  a  thicker  shadow  around  us  in 
the  vale  below,  whilst  their  summits  were  lost  in  gloom  and  silence,  adding  a 
solitary  and  solemn  grandeur  to  the  scene.  We  heard  also  the  murmuring  of 
mountain  torrents  and  the  harsh  screeching  of  the  owl,  making  '  night  hideous  ; ' 
but  as  we  returned,  the  moon  arose  from  behind  a  mountain,  up  whose  steep  sides 
she  seemed  to  have  been  climbing  laboriously,  and  with  her  broad  disk  shone  full 
upon  us,  casting  a  transient  brightness  on  the  smooth  streams  winding  through 
the  valley.  The  next  morning  had  far  advanced  before  we  were  admiring  the 
beauties  of  Scottish  mountain  scenery ;  our  first  visit  was  to  Loch  Ech.  a  few 
miles  from  where  we  were  staying  ;  it  is  a  still,  beautiful  lake,  opening  at  each 
end  into  a  valley,  and  defended  on  each  side  by  lofty  mountains  stretched  into 
repose  by  these  still  waters.  From  this  we  returned  home  to  fortify  ourselves 
for  another  journey — this  was  to  the  Massen  waterfalls.  The  road  to  it  was 
picturesque,  we  might  almost  say  sublime.  The  mountain  separating  the  falls 
from  Loch  Ech  is  called  Ben  Hohr,  a  noble  height,  and  planted  to  its  front  with 
fir  trees,  many  of  them  seeming  almost  inaccessible  ;  you  can  scarcely  look  at 
them  without  thinking  of  the  danger  which  must  have  been  incurred  in  planting. 
The  whole  gives  to  the  mountain  a  rich  and  beautiful  appearance,  these  firs  con- 
trasting with  the  rugged  and  barren  rocks  which  they  scarce  conceal,  and  from 
which  they  seem  to  draw  their  sustenance.  At  the  foot  of  this  mountain  is  a 
very  pretty  mansion  and  plantation,  adding  the  finish  of  home  to  this  splendid 
combination  of  nature  and  art.  But  we  must  hasten  to  the  falls.  They  are  in  a 
ravine,  and  at  some  distance  seem  lost  in  the  grandeur  of  the  scenery;  but  as  you 
approach,  the  deep  murmur  of  the  waters  awakens  something  like  awe,  and  when 
you  stand  on  the  masses  of  stone  which  nature  seems  to  have  hurled  together  in 
the  sport  of  her  boundless  power,  and  see  the  streams  almost  carving  their  im- 
petuous passage  through  these  vain  obstructions',  and  look  up  from  this  tierce 
contest  to  the  mountains,  lifting  their  heads  aloft,  undisturbed  by  this  murmuring, 
listening  to  no  sound  but  the  rushing  tempest  or  the  pealing  thunder,  the  im- 
pression is  magnificent  and  overpowering.  I  must  conclude.  If  this  letter  is  too 
tedious  you  must  pardon  it  since  it  comes  from  your  own  most  affectionate ." 

But,  as  Mr.  Godwin  once  said  to  me,  as  he  met  me  returning 
from  Stoke  Newington  to  college,  we  "  must  attend  to  severer 
studies  :*'  let  us  go  back  to  the  university,  and  finish  the  business  of 
the  session. 

At  the  risk  of  mixing  dates,  I  may  mention  here  what  occurred 
at  an  earlier  period  of  this  session,  but  the  result  of  which  I  was 
now  beginning  to  look  forward  to  with  anxious  curiosity. 

At  the  end  of  my  first  Glasgow  campaign  I  was  so  eager  to  get 
the  boat  for  Liverpool,  that  after  receiving  the  class  prizes  I  did 


50 

not  attend  the  meeting  in  the  Common  Hall,  where  other  honours 
were  awarded,  and  announcements  made  of  subjects  to  be  competed 
for  the  next  session,  and  at  which  the  students  could  work  during 
the  vacation.  I  was  entirely  ignorant  of  this  important  business 
forming  a  part  of  the  concluding  ceremony,  and  only  found  it  out 
afterwards,  when  there  was  little  chance  of  competing,  since  many 
had  had  the  opportunity  of  working  eight  months  at  the  subjects, 
and  there  were  now  but  about  the  same  number  of  days  left,  before 
the  papers  were  to  be  given  in. 

At  the  same  time  there  was  the  Installation  of  the  Lord  Rector 
to  be  attended,  and  a  breakfast  the  next  morning  with  him  at  Pro- 
fessor Thomson's,  who  invited  some  ten  of  the  more  active  spirits 
whose  exertions  and  eloquence  had  contributed  to  secure  the 
election.      I  had  the  honour  to  be  amongst  the  "  upper  ten." 

Writing  to  Dr.  Legge  about  these  events,  I  gave  an  account  of 
my  discovery  of  the  announced  University  prizes,  and  my  attempt 
to  secure  two  of  them. 

It  was  by  obtaining  a  copy  of  the  Glasgow  "University  Calendar" 
that  I  made  the  discovery ;  and  having  fixed  upon  two  subjects  as 
most  suitable,  I  determined  to  try  chiefly  for  one  of  them — the  best 
essay  on  "  Poetic  Diction,  its  Use  and  Abuse  by  the  Orators,"  to 
which  the  University  silver  medal  was  to  be  awarded.  This 
required  some  amount  of  reading  for  facts  and  illustrations,  and 
would  need  to  be  written  in  a  somewhat  ambitious  style  :  at  any  rate 
"  composition"  was  of  more  consequence  in  this  than  in  the  other, 
which  I  reserved  for  the  shorter  space  of  time,  should  any  be  left. 
The  second  essay  was  to  be  on — "  the  Difference  between  the 
Aristotelian  and  Baconian  Methods  of  Logic." 

I  secured  the  services  of  my  Highland  host  to  call  me  at  a  fixed 
time,  and  went  to  bed  two  hours  before  the  time  fixed  for  being 
called. 

The  next  morning  I  was  called  upon  by  a  fellow  student  with  whom 
I  was  going  through  the  Greek  and  Latin  for  B.A.,  who,  perceiving 
me  to  be  specially  engaged  and  disposed  to  decline  our  customary 
walk,  enquired  what  I  was  at,  when  I  showed  him  the  "  Calendar" 
with  the  list  of  prizes.  He  said  that  there  was  one  of  them  which  he 
thought  he  could  manage,  and  fixed  on  my  reserved  theme, — the 
difference  between  Deductive  and  Inductive  Logic.  I  thought  it 
would  be  a  pity  to  awaken  any  delicacy  in  his  mind,  by  saying  that 
I  had  intended  trying  for  that  also,  after  finishing  the  other  ;  and 
as  I  was  "  going  in"  for  two,  he  would,  so  far  as  my  share  in  the  com- 
petition was  concerned,  have  a  very  fair  chance.     So  having  lent 


51 

him  Stuart  Mill's  "System  of  Logic,"  in  two  volumes,  which  I  had 
lately  bought,  I  next  borrowed  a  copy  for  my  own  use  in  writing 
on  the  second  subject. 

I  remember  the  last  time  my  tormenter  came  to  call  me  up,  I 
listened  to  his  footsteps  across  the  outer  room  towards  my  dormi- 
tory with  no  feelings  of  Christian  charity  ;  I  rejoiced  when  he  half 
stumbled  over  a  chair ;  I  hoped  he  would  never  find  my  door  :  but 
when  he  did,  I  sprang  out  in  desperation,  and,  said  he, — "May  be 
I've  waked  you  too  soon,  shall  I  give  you  a  licht  ?  "  I  hesitated  a 
moment,  he  lighted  the  gas,  and  left  me  to  break  the  ice,  to  get 
thoroughly  awake  by  a  very  cold  water  process.  After  this,  with 
the  exception  of  half  an  hour's  walk,  and  a  subsequent  half  hour's 
effort  to  shake  off  a  kind  of  stupor  or  coma,  I  wrote  and  made 
notes  and  copied,  from  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  till  after  eleven 
at  night ;  when  my  second  essay  was  despatched  for  competition  ; 
the  first  having  been  sent  in  a  few  hours  earlier.  So  ended  that 
work ; — as  hard  a  week  as  I  should  wish  to  endure. 

We  had  in  the  University  a  kind  of  debating  society,  I  forget  its 
name.  I  read  in  it  an  essay  on  the  Crusades,  which  was  borrowed 
by  the  student  referred  to  in  the  preceding  chapter. 

It  was  with  great  satisfaction  that  I  found  among  many  other 
lost  papers,  the  following  note  : — "  My  dear  Grant,  I  return  your 
oration  on  the  Crusades,  which  I  have  read  with  very  great  plea- 
sure. I  owe  you  a  great  many  apologies  for  not  having  returned  it 
sooner  :  but  I  have  been  looking  for  you  a  long  tine,  with  that 
purpose,  without  having  been  able  to  discover  you  about  the 
college. 

I  have  great  pleasure  in  congratulating  you  on  your  honours  in 
the  Moral  (Philosophy  class)  ;  and  on  Thursday  I  expect  to  have 
the  pleasure  of  doing  so  upon  your  having  gained  several  of  the 
University  essay  prizes. 

I  am  sorry  that  the  last  session  in  which  our  old  University  will 
number  you  among  her  sons  has  now  come  to  an  end  :  and  I 
regret  much  that  any  abominable  politics  should  have  kept  me  from 
sooner  having  the  pleasure  and  honour  of  your  acquaintance.  One 
thing  I  can  honestly  say  : — I  have  been  in  several  schools  and 
colleges  in  Scotland  and  England,  but  I  never  met  with  any  person 
for  whose  talent  and  genius  I  had  the  same  respect  and  admiration, 
that  I  have  for  yours."  "lam  morally  certain  that  at  some  future 
ime  your  name  will  be  one  which  men  '  will  not  willingly  let  die,' — 
and  1  hope  that  you  will  not  in  those  days  be  surprised  if  you  find 
your  Glasgow  friend  claiming  the  honour  of  your  acquaintance. 


I  wish  yon  all  manner  of  happiness,  whatever  your  future  cours; 
in  life  may  be ;  and  short  as  the  time  of  our  acquaintance  has  been, 
I  assure  you  I  shall  not  soon  forget  the  appearances  which  I  have 
seen  and  heard  you  make.    With  every  good  wish;  I  am,  my  dear 
Grant,  yours  very  sincerely,  A.  K.  H.  B." 

This  from  a  political  opponent,  and  a  conservative,  is  an  example 
to  my  liberal  friends.  There  are  still  more  handsome  expressions 
in  the  letter,  which  I  have  suppressed  in  order  not  to  awaken  the 
envy  of  some  ;  and  "  I  do  remember  my  faults  this  day,"  and  ex- 
ceedingly regret,  that  the  immediate  changes  and  new  roads  of  life, 
on  leaving  the  University  for  a  different  part  of  the  kingdom,  pre- 
vented me  keeping  sight  of  so  worthy  a  friend  ;  and  that  I  had  not 
an  opportunity  of  acknowledging  so  generous  a  recognition  ;  but 
trust  that  if  this  should,  as  I  believe  it  will,  come  under  his  notice, 
he  will  not  feel  that  his  kindly  prognostics  should  make  him 
ashamed. 

I  had  enjoyed  the  "  Recreations  of  a  Country  Parson"  and  some 
other  productions  of  the  same  pen,  as  I  take  it,  before  identifying 
in  my  own  mind  the  author  with  my  University  friend. 

The  "  honours  in  the  Moral"  referred  to,  were  the  first  prize  ad- 
judged by  the  students,  and  one  by  the  professor,  "Reid's  Essays  on 
the  Powers  of  the  Human  Mind,"  in  three  volumes,  stamped  with 
the  University  arms,  and  inscribed  by  the  professor: — "Brewin 
Grant,  A.B.  In  classe  Ethica  Discupulus.  Ingenio  ac  Labore 
Insignis.  Praemium  Hocce  Merito  Consecutus  est.  Apud  Coll. 
Glasg.     Primo  Die  Maii,  1845.     Geo.  Fleming,  Eth.  Prof." 

This  already  anticipates  that  I  passed  in  the  B.A,  examination, 
as  the  professor  appends  that  title  in  his  certificate. 

At  the  time  of  receiving  this  acknowledgment  I  was  still  uncer- 
tain whether  I  had  succeeded  in  either  of  the  University  prizes  for 
which  I  had  written,  and  which  were,  as  usual,  to  be  distributed  in 
the  Public  Hall,  where  we  waited  to  hear  the  result.  I  had  the 
satisfaction  of  hearing  announced  "  the  University  Silver  Medal  for 
the  best  Essay  on  '  Poetic  Diction,  its  Use  and  Abuse  by  the 
Orators' — Mr.  Brewin  Grant,  of  Leicester."  I  went  forward  to 
receive  this,  and  waited  to  learn  respecting  the  other,  when  I  had 
again  the  satisfaction  of  hearing  the  prize  awarded  to  me  for  the 
best  Essiy  on  "  The  Difference  between  the  Aristotelian  and  the 
Baconian  Systems  of  Logic."  This  was  a  small  money  prize  of  I 
think  two  and  a  half  guineas.  The  professor  of  Moral  Philosophy 
gave  me  the  following  certificate  in  addition  to  his  inscription  in  the 
prize  volume  before  mentioned  : — 


53 

"  Glasgow  College,  May  1,  1845. 
Mr.  Brewin  Grant  was  a  student  of  Moral  Philosophy  during  the 
Session  1844-5.  He  was  regular  in  his  attendance  and  exemplary 
in  his  conduct,  and  in  the  examinations  and  exercises  of  the  class 
uniformly  acquired  himself  so  as  to  merit  the  highest  approbation 
and  esteem  of  his  fellow  students  and  myself.  It  will  give  me  great 
pleasure  to  hear  of  his  happiness  and  success  in  life. 

"  WILLIAM  FLEMING,  Professor  of  Moral  Philosophy." 

Afterwards,  in  1847,  when  I  was  desirous  of  giving  occasional 
lectures  in  connection  with  Philosophical,  Literary,  and  Edu- 
cational Institutions,  Professor  Fleming  added  to  the  above  : — "  He 
(Mr.  Grant)  applied  himself  with  so  much  ability  and  success  to  the 
business  of  the  class  that  by  the  votes  of  his  fellow-students,  and 
with  my  cordial  approbation,  he  obtained  the  first  prize  awarded  for 
general  eminence  throughout  the  session.  It  is  also  consistent  with 
my  knowledge,  that  at  the  close  of  that  session  he  received  two 
University  Prizes  for  essays  on  topics  connected  with  Mental  Philo- 
sophy, which  were  thought  by  the  judges  to  be  of  very  superior 
merit.  His  abilities  are  naturally  good,  and  they  have  been  care- 
fully and  successfully  cultivated.  He  is  quick,  acute,  lively,  and 
ingenious,  and  possesses  many  of  the  qualities  which  should  fit  him 
to  be  popular  and  interesting  as  a  public  teacher  or  lecturer." 

The  Logic  Professor  was  also  kind  enough  to  furnish  me  with  a 
supplementary  testimonial  on  the  same  occasion  : — 

"  The  Rev.  Brewin  Grant,  B.A.,  entered  the  University  of 
Glasgow  as  a  scholar  on  Dr.  Williams's  Foundation,  in  1843-4. 

During  that  session  he  attended  the  Logic  Class,  in  which  he  so 
eminently  distinguished  himself  by  his  readiness,  acuteness,  and 
ingenuity,  in  the  written  compositions,  extemporary  criticisms,  and 
public  examinations  of  the  class,  that  by  the  votes  of  his,  fellow- 
students  the  Breadalbane  Prize  was  awarded  to  him  as  the  best 
logician  of  his  year. 

While  attending  the  University  Mr.  Grant  carried  several  public 
prizes  for  essays  on  subjects  connected  with  the  departments  of 
Lo^ic,  Rhetoric,  and  Metaphysics,  all  of  them  composed  with  much 
ability  and  characterised  by  a  power  of  vigorous  and  original 
thinking.  I  may  add  that  during  the  whole  period  of  his  connection 
with  the  University  of  Glasgow,  Mr.  Grant  conducted  himself  as  a 
zealous  and  exemplary  student,  and  that  on  taking  his  degree  in 
Arts,  he  passed  his  examination  in  Logic  with  marked  approbation. 

ROBERT  BUCHANAN,  M.A., 

Oct.  16th,  1847.  [Prof,  of  Logic  and  Rhetoric  in  the  University  of  Glasgow. 


54 

It  was  gratifying  to  me  to  receive  at  the  end  of  my  University 
course  a  kindly  recognition  from  my  old  college,  Highbury,  London, 
in  which  were  still  one  half  of  those  who  were  fellow -students  with 
me  ;  and  these,  with  the  others  who  had  entered  since  I  left,  sent 
me  the  congratulations  of  the  united  brethren,  by  the  senior  stu- 
dent, who  thus  wrote  : — 

"  Highbury  College,  May  4,  1845. 

My  dear  Brother, — It  is  with  very  sincere  pleasure  that  I  forward 
to  you,  in  accordance  with  a  motion  passed  the  other  morning  at 
the  breakfast  table,  the  hearty  congratulations  of  the  brethren  here, 
for  the  honourable  attainment  of  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts 
in  the  Glasgow  University,  and  likewise  for  the  successful  competi- 
tion for  the  prize  for  the  best  essay  on  the  subject  of  a  Christian 
church  (the  Anti- State  Church  Prize  Tract.) 

I  hope  you  will  be  long  spared  to  enjoy  the  honours  you  have 
already  reached  and  to  attain  others  of  yet  higher  importance  and 
distinction. 

I  remain,  my  dear  Grant,  very  truly  yours, 

J.  FLEMING,  Senior  Student." 

It  only  remains  to  complete  this  part  of  my  history  by  the 
approbation  I  most  prized,  namely  of  my  father,  and  my  pastor : — 

"  Leicester,  June  1845. 

My  dear  Grant, — I  received  your  last  note  a  few  days  ago.  I 
had  been  apprised  before  of  the  result  of  your  Glasgow  career  by 
your  dear  father  with  his  sparkling  eyes  and  swelling  heart.  It  is 
late  to  tender  you  my  congratulations  thereupon,  but  you  may 
believe  that  no  one  rejoiced  more  sincerely  in  your  success  than  I 
did.  I  trust  it  is  the  earnest  and  foreshadowing  of  more  brilliant 
successes  jet  to  come,  in  the  cause  of  truth  and  meekness  and 
righteousness.  I  wish  I  had  it  in  my  power  to  introduce  you  to  a 
sphere  where  you  could  find  yourself  in  congenial  element  and  have 
scope  for  the  exercise  of  your  powers. 

"Do  write  to  me  at  your  earliest  convenience,  and  believe  me, 
my  dear  Grant,  yours  affectionately, 

V  GEORGE  LEGGE." 


55 

Chapter  Y. 

THE     OPENING     CAMPAIGN     OF     LIFE.       SEEKING     A 
"  SETTLEMENT."     1815—7. 

Hitherto  I  had  been  highly  favoured  by  providential  opportuni- 
ties of  education  and  health  to  achieve  moderate  success ;  and  now, 
though  in  one  sense  the  whole  world  was  before  rne,  and  was  "  a 
wide,  wide  world,"  I  seemed  to  have  a  very  narrow  entrance  into  it, 
or  rather  into  the  church  ;  and  what  was  a  greater  exercise  of  faith, 
the  entrance  was  so  narrow  that  I  could  not  at  first  discern  it. 
Neither  did  I,  but  was  led  to  it  by  a  way  I  knew  not. 

I  was  driven  into  three  ports  :  the  first  was  Gainsboro',  where  the 
minister  might  possibly  leave,  but  where  he  eventually  for  some 
time  remained,  so  that  this  "  opening"  was  not  an  "  opening"  at 
all ;  but  continued  to  be  closed  by  the  former  occupant  of  the 
pulpit,  an  old  Highbury  fellow-student,  the  Rev.  David  Loxtox, 
who  had  kindly  endeavoured,  in  case  of  his  removal,  to  prepare  the 
way  for  me  to  be  his  successor. 

In  a  letter  to  one  who  would  share  in  and  complete  my  "  settle- 
ment" wherever  that  should  be,  I  stated  the  efforts  made  at  this  time, 
July  17,  1815,  by  the  friends  at  Gainsboro'  to  induce  Mr.  Loxtox 
to  continue  amongst  them,  though  they  regarded  their  church  more 
as  a  training  ground  for  a  minister  of  his  abilities,  than  as  a  per- 
manency for  life  ;  since  Gainsboro'  was  a  rather  decaying  than  a 
flourishing  town,  and  the  chapel  shared  in  the  general  fortunes. 

Mr.  Loxtox,  in  a  very  friendly  letter  of  September  12,  1815, 
writing  from  Gainsboro,'  respecting  my  previous  visit  there,  and  I 
think  before  his  own  movements  were  quite  decided,  was  good 
enough  to  say: — "Most  of  the  intelligent  people  here  were  very 
much  pleased  with   you ;  but  you  are  too  good  for  the  ignorant 

mass.      Don't  think  about ,  but  look  for  a  better  place.      If 

I  can  in  any  way  serve  you,  you  have  only  to  tell  me  how."  Mr. 
Loxton  afterwards  removed  to  Liverpool,  and  thence  to  Sheffield, 
where  he  has  laboured  with  fair  success  fori  believe  about  sixteen 
years.  He  is  now  our  senior  minister,  having  been  in  the  town 
longer  than  any  other  of  the  brethren  at  present  ministering  there. 

My  next  port  was  Woodside,  Birkenhead,  but  that  opening  was 
also  closed,  inasmuch  as  during  my  preaching  there  the  good 
people  were  waiting  for  an  answer  from  one  whom  they  had  invited 
rather  ambitiously, — the  Rev.  J.  G.  Miall,  of  Bradford,  whose 
position  I  find  described  thus,  in  a  letter  dated,  August,  1815  : — 
"  He  has  a  flourishing  church,  and  would  find  it  difficult  to  leave.' ' 


56 

However,  knowing  as  I  did  that  the  people  were  looking  in 
another  direction,  I  could  not  in  these  circumstances  be  deemed 
a  "  candidate"  but  only  a  temporary  "  supply."  This  opening, 
therefore,  was  not  one.  I  ought  to  state  here  that  I  do  not  for  a 
moment  imagine  that  the  Eev.  J.  G.  Miall  was  "  candidating  ;"  it 
would  be  extremely  improbable  that  he  could  have  for  a  moment 
entertained  the  idea  of  leaving  Bradford, — where  his  character  and 
abilities  were  so  highly  and  deservedly  appreciated,  and  where  he 
still  abides  in  honour  and  usefulness, — to  undertake  a  cause  so 
shattered  and  unpromising  as  Woodside  was  at  that  time. 

My  third  port  was  Prescot,  near  Liverpool,  where  I  expected 
nothing,  and  got  what  I  wanted — a  "  settlement"  and  training 
ground;  for  I  was  too  immature  for  a  large  "  sphere,"  and  as  Dr. 
Legge  told  me,  I  should  be  most  advantageously  placed  among 
disadvantages,  to  bear  the  yoke  in  my  youth,  which  is  as  good  as  it 
is  sometimes  galling.    I  rested  and  was  thankful. 

I  found  many  very  kind  friends  there,  though  "the  cause"  was  small, 
and  had  become  "  smaller  by  degrees  and  beautifully  less"  for  some 
time  past.  It  was  nursed  by  the  "  County  Union,"  but  this  cir- 
cumstance, which  in  itself  is  generally  irksome  to  an  Independent 
minister,  was  considerably  relieved  to  me  by  the  respectful  and 
considerate  treatment  which  I  invariably  received  from  the  minis- 
ters who  presided  over  the  contributing  churches,  and  with  lay 
delegates  managed  the  affairs  of  the  Union. 

Dr.  Raffles  was  a  prince  among  them  ;  he  was  urbanity  itself ; 
and  always  treated  an  obscure  brother  with  marked  respect.  It 
is  true  he  could  give  a  dignified  rebuke,  but  always  good-naturedly, 
as  when  once  I  apologized  for  not  calling  upon  him  when  I  visited 
Liverpool,  excusing  myself  on  the  ground  that  the  place  was  in  such 
a  whirl  that  I  got  confused,  and  turned  back  to  Prescot  as  soon  as 
possible,  he  wrote  to  say  that  as  he  had  no  hope  of  Liverpool  ever 
becoming  any  quieter,  he  was  afraid  he  must  abandon  the  hope  of 
enjoying  a  visit  from  me. 

To  the  end  of  his  life  he  evinced  a  kindly  interest  in  me.  I  have 
a  letter  in  which  he  writes  of  me  to  another,  as  "  my  old  friend ;" 
and  a  little  before  his  decease  he  wrote  a  kind  apology  for  not 
bem0  able  to  repeat  the  obligation  I  was  several  times  under  to 
him,  of  taking  some  public  service  in  my  church.  No  man  ever 
more  cheerfully  aided  the  brethren. 

The  Rev.  John  Kelly,  equally  eminent,  though  less  popular, 
was  always  equally  kind ;  and  my  occasional  relations  with  him 
always  inspired  me  with  that  respect  in  which  he  still  lives  in  the 
general  estimation. 


57 

These  two,  with  other  ministers  round  and  some  from  a  distance, 
took  part  in  my  "  Ordination," — a  dedicatory  service  publicly  set- 
ting apart  and  recognizing  one  as  devoted  to  the  work  of  the 
ministry.     This  was  in  January,  1846. 

The  Rev.  J.  L.  Poore,  formerly  of  Salford,  and  afterwards 
actively  employed  in  connection  with  the  Colonial  Mission,  facili- 
tating the  settlement  of  English  ministers  over  Colonial  churches, 
and  whose  decease  lately  was  a  cause  of  wide-spread  sorrow,  was 
present  on  the  occasion  and  took  part  in  it.  He  was  somewhat 
personally  interested  in  me,  as  being  uncle  by  marriage  to  the  one 
whom  I  was  hoping  would  soon  share  my  labours  and  fortunes. 

From  a  letter  to  that  one,  dated  January  23,  which  with  many 
other  letters  constituted  the  only  "worldly  goods,"  except  myself, 
with  which  I  "  endowed"  her,  I  quot9  the  following  brief  reference 
to  my  ordination  : — "Everything  went  off  well,  and  what  was  very 
cheering  to  me.  Your  aunt  was  there  ;  Mr.  Poore  brought  her.  He 
read  and  prayed  after  the  first  hymn ;  several  ministers  gave  out 
hymns.  I  was  rather  nervous,  but  got  through.  Your  aunt 
borrowed  the  papers  that  I  read,  (giving  an  account  of  religious 
experience,  doctrines,  and  church  polity.)  One  question  I  had 
to  answer  extemporaneously,  so  it  is  not  down  (on  the  papers) ; 
the  whole  was  written  in  haste  the  day  before.  Dr.  Raffles 
presided  at  the  dinner  ;  was  very  kind  and  cordial ;  we  had  about 
fifty  to  dine.  My  father  was  there,  and  is  increasingly  pleased 
with  the  place  and  people, — says  we  have  more  reality  than  show. 
At  first  he  was  frightened  by  our  fewness  till  he  knew  the  worth  of 
some  of  them.  Last  Sunday  was  the  best  attended  yet,  though  still 
of  course  very  thin.  Mr.  Poore  did  very  well  (at  the  ordination 
meetings)  and  praised  me  largely  at  the  dinner.  Dr.  Legge  of 
course  did  the  same,  and  Dr.  Raffles  assured  me  and  the  people 
how  cordially  I  should  be  received  into  ministerial  confidence,  and 
by  the  Association  of  the  County,  (which  '  gave  a  grant'  to  the  place.)" 

On  April  the  second  (to  avoid  the  first)  of  the  same  year,  another 
ceremony  was  performed  by  the  Rev.  John  Jefferson,  in  his  chapel, 
Stoke  Xewington.  London,  when  the  eldest  daughter  of  Francis 
Homan,  Esq.,  one  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  deacons,  became  Mrs.  Brewin 
Grant.  That  occasion  was  unhappily  overshadowed,  as  all  joy  is, 
by  a  painful  circumstance,  the  sudden  illness,  a  few  months  prece- 
ding, from  a  paralytic  stroke,  of  our  father,  who  had  been  my  true 
and  kind  friend  for  some  seven  years ;  but  who  had  now  become — 

"  In  power  of  others,  never  in  his  own,'' 
as  Samson  says  of  his  incapacitating  blindness.    We  knew,  however, 


58 

that  though  bereaved  of  speech,  so  as  not  able  to  originate  a  pro- 
position, and  unable  to  communicate  with  man  except  in  mono- 
syllables, as  "yes"  or  "no,"  as  much  signified  by  looks  and 
signs  as  expressed  by  the  tongue,  he  could  still  hold  heavenly 
converse,  and  retained  all  his  faculties  of  understanding  what  was 
spoken  or  read  to  him.  Though  henceforth  dead  as  to  "  business," 
in  which  he  had  been  "  diligent,"  as  he  had  been  "  fervent  in  spirit, 
serving  the  Lord"  in  both,  he  still  took  an  interest  in  passing  events  ; 
and  for  ten  years  with  general  cheerfulnes,  though  suffering  occa- 
sional depression,  enjoyed  life  with  gratitude  and  resigned  it  with 
the  certainty  of  a  better. 

In  our  little  flock  at  Prescot  we  had  three  representative  men, 
who  may  be  reckoned  upon  in  most  congregations  :  "  Father  Doke," 
now  in  heaven,  whose  large  lustrous  eyes  gleamed  as  he  "  led"  with 
heart  and  soul  and  voice  in  Ebenezer  vestry  prayer  meetings,  such 
lines  as — 

Stand  up,  my  soul,  shake  off  thy  fears, 
And  gird  the  gospel  armour  on — 

represented  the  simple,  hearty,  humble  worshipper,  to  whom  the 
plain  gospel  was  "nectar,"  drunk  in  with  eager  delight  and  thank- 
fulness. 

The  second  representative  man  was  Mr.  Somerville,  then 
"forester"  to  Lord  Derby,  managing  the  trees  in  the  noble 
"  Knowsley  Park;"  and  afterwards,  perhaps  still,  sustaining  the 
same  office  under  Lord  Harewood,  near  Leeds  :  he  was  brother  to 
"  One  who  Whistled  at  the  Plough,"  and  who  found  brains  for  the 
Anti-Corn-law  league  orators.  Mr.  Somerville  was  of  the  Scottish 
covenanter  class,  a  rigid  theologian,  and  as  conscientious  as  he  was 
intelligent  in  his  religion.  The  third  was  my  personal  friend,  who 
will  perhaps  forgive  me  naming  him  here,  Mr.  Henry  Walker 
Lucas,  then  of  the  Liverpool,  now  of  the  London,  Stock  Exchange. 
He  lived  out  at  Prescot,  where  his  sister  kept  a  select  boarding 
school  for  young  ladies,  and  in  whose  house  we  spent  many  happy 
and  profitable  hours.  I  took  him  to  be  a  representative  of  the  more 
cultivated  and  intellectual  class  of  our  hearers,  whileat  the  same  time 
sympathizing  with  what  is  suited  to  the  more  simple  and  theological. 
I  felt  that  as  a  matter  of  mere  criticism  a  style  of  preaching  that 
should  meet  the  simplicity  and  fervour  of  the  first,  the  soundness 
and  spirituality  of  the  second,  without  violating  the  taste  of  the 
third,  would  be  the  perfection  of  sermonizing  ;  though  too  great  a 
regard  for  the  last  might  produce  tameness  and  inefficiency. 

Prescot  upon  the  whole  was  a  dull  and  stagnant  town,  from 
wbiih  w7ere  many  migrations,  and  sometimes  those  who  wTere  most 


59 

benefited  and  useful  were  removed  by  "  tbe  logic  of  events  :"  still 
we  enjoyed  our  sojourn  there,  and  believe  it  was  not  wholly  lost  on 
ourselves  and  others. 

Exactly  two  years  after  my  ordination  in  Prescot,  I  received  a 
letter  from  Mr.  Thos.  Short.  Jun.,  Birmingham, — one  of  the 
deacons  of  Highbury  chapel,  Graham-street,  in  that  town,  whose 
father  was  then  a  deacon  of  the  Rev.  John  Angell  James,  and  is 
I  believe  still  in  the  same  office  in  that  church.  This  letter  stated 
that  I  had  been  named  to  him  by  one  of  my  old  Highbury  fellow- 
students  as  a  likely  minister  for  the  above-named  chapel. 

I  had  also  been  described  to  him  as  "  moveable,''  which  unhap- 
pily is  a  large  category,  though  it  is  dangerous  to  be  known  (at 
home)  to  belong  to  it. 

I  was  invited  to  preach  "  in  the  capacity  of  probationer,"  and 
was  asked  whether  in  case  they  gave  me  an  "  invitation,"  I  would 
accept  it.  Several  Sundays  were  mentioned  on  which  I  could  if 
convenient  "  supply  the  pulpit."  Not  knowing  the  place  or  the 
people,  and  not  prepared  to  accept  a  "  call"  which  might  not  be 
given,  I  agreed  to  "  supply,"  that  we  might  have  an  opportunity  of 
knowing  each  other.  I  was  very  heartily  received,  and  found  "  the 
young  people,"  and  especially  "  the  young  men,"  exceedingly 
anxious  to  manifest  that  ray  services  had  made  "a  good  impression." 

But  whether  from  habit  or  affection,  it  was  always  my  lot  to  form 
an  attachment  to  the  place  and  people  with  whom  I  had  been  asso- 
ciated, and  any  change  seemed  like  a  funeral :  so  much  so,  that  I 
as  naturally  call  a  final  discourse  a  "  funeral"  as  a  "  farewell  ser- 
mon." I  could  scarcely  endure  the  idea  of  "facing"  my  "old 
people  "  with  a  tale  of  our  probable  separation  ;  and  my  friend  Mr. 
Lucas,  having  heard  through  his  mother  and  sister  from  Mrs. 
Grant  that  I  was  urged  to  stay  a  fortnight  longer  in  Birmingham, 
wrote  me  a  letter  which  only  increased  my  embarrassment  "betwixt 
the  two,"  feeling  much  as  the  apostle  did  in  reference  to  that  final 
"  removal"  by  a  "  call"  that  must  be  answered. 

Not  to  dwell  on  these  scenes,  I  give  here  the  ultimate  decision, 
as  sent  to  my  first  flock,  after  many  an  anxious  consideration  as  to 
my  duty  under  the  circumstances. 

"Prescot,  March  30,  1848. 

To  the  Church  of  Christ  assembling  for  "Worship  in  Ebenezer  Chapel, 

Prescot. 

My  dear  Friends, — You  will  be  somewhat  prepared  for  the  painful  task 

which  now  devolves  upon  me  to  intimate  my  resignation  of  the  pastoral  office 

among  you.     The  many  severe  losses  we  have  sustained  by  the  removal  of  one 

and  another  stated  worshipper  from  our  midst,  and  the  little  advance  made  in 


60 

securing  others  as  permanent  attendants,  have  heen  long  painfully  felt  by  me,  as 
no  doubt  by  yourselves  :  had  this  not  been  the  case  no  inducement  would  have 
led  me  to  discontinue  my  services  with  you.  Nor  have  I  come  to  the  present 
conclusion  without  great  reluctance,  and  being  driver  by  considerations  which 
amount  to  necessity.  I  shall  ever  consider  my  stay  here,  though  brief,  as  an 
important  period  of  my  life,  and  shall  look  back  at  those  who  have  been  the 
steady  attendants  on  my  ministry  with  feelings  of  peculiar  affection.  I  am  sorry 
that  my  efforts  have  been  productive  of  so  few  prominent  results  ;  and  yet  would 
fain  cherish  the  hope  that  they  will  leave  some  permanent  traces  at  least  in  the 
minds  of  a  few. 

If  you  stand  firmly  together  in  unity  of  affection  and  purpose,  (as  I  doubt 
not  you  will),  and  obtain  the  services  of  one  possessing  more  of  the  peculiar 
energy  required  for  the  place,  you  may  yet  be  blessed  with  a  success  which  I 
ardently  desire,  but  have  failed  to  secure. 

Desiring  for  you  all  spiritual  and  temporal  blessings, 

I  remain,  with  fullest  affection, 

Yours  very  truly, 

BREWIN  GRANT.'* 
On  the  evening  of  the  same  day  a  meeting  of  the  church  was 
held,  of  which  the  following  account  was  transmitted  to  me,  and  is 
highly  prized. 

The  conclusion  especially  indicates  a  kindly  Christian  spirit,  well 
worthy  of  imitation  in  similiar  cases. 

At  a  Meeting  of  the  Members  of  the  Church  assembling  at  Ebenezer  Chapel, 
Pkescot,  held  on  Thursday,  the  30i/i  day  of  March,  1848, 
H.  Walker  Lucas,  in  the  chair, 

It  was  moved,  seconded,  and  unanimously  resolved  : — 

"  That  this  meeting  has  heard  with  the  deepest  regret  the  intimation  of  the 
retirement  of  their  esteemed  pastor,  Rev.  Brewin  Grant,  B.A.,  as  communicated 
in  ills  letter  read  this  evening.  That  they  sympathize  with  him  in  the  necessity 
that  has  compelled  this  resignation,  and  feel  assured  that  nothing  but  a  sense  of 
duty  and  obligation  has  dictated  so  painful  a  determination  on  his  part.  That 
in  accepting  his  relinquishment  of  the  pastoral  charge  over  them  they  desire  to 
express  their  appreciation  of  his  labours  amongst  them,  and  the  individual  advan- 
tage which  they  have  derived  from  the  instructions  that  they  have  been  privi- 
leged to  enjoy.  At  the  same  time  they  would  pray  the  Great  Head  of  the 
Church  to  grant  that  in  the  sphere  to  which  he  is  about  to  be  removed  greater 
apparent  results  may  accompany  his  ministry  than  have  been  permitted  to  attend 
it  here.  H.  WALKER  LUCAS,  Chairman." 

It  was  further  resolved  : — 

"  That  a  special  prayer  meeting  for  the  future  prosperity  and  usefulness  of 
Mr.  Grant  be  held  on  Sunday  eveniag  next,  at  the  close  of  the  service." 

We  had  in  Prescot  a  Mechanics'  Institute,  with  which  was  con- 
nected a  day  school  for  hoys.  I  was  on  the  committee,  and  took  an 
active  interest  in  the  up-hill  work  of  education  in  the  town.  In 
reply  to  my  letter  of  resignation,  (I  think  of  the  office  of  president), 
the  following  resolution  was  forwarded  to  me,  by  the  very  promising, 
but  not  highly  encouraged,  master  of  the  school :  — 


61 

•■  Prescot  Mechanics'  Institute,  April  6th,  1848. 
Dear  Sir, — I  am  desired  by  the  committee  to  convey  to  you  the  following 
resolution,  passed  unanimously  at  their  meeting  of  the  5th  instant : — '  That  this 
meeting  has  learned  with  regret  the  resignation  of  the  Eev.  Brewin  Grant ;  that 
they  return  him  their  grateful  acknowledgment  for  his  varied  assistance  in  advan- 
cing the  interests  of  the  institution,  and  that  they  sincerely  hope  his  efforts  in 
the  cause  of  education  may  meet  with  more  marked  encouragement  and  success 
in  the  large  and  promising  sphere  to  which  he  is  about  to  remove.' 

By  order  of  the  committee, 

THOMAS  MARTIN, 

Assistant  Secretary." 
"  Eev.  Brkwih  Grant,  B.A." 

P.S. — "  As  I  am  only  officially  (as  master)  connected  with  the  committee, 

allow  me  to  say  that  with  the  whole  of  the  resolution  I  warmly  sympathize,  and 

shall  ever  remember  with  gratitude  the  kind  and  respectful  treatment  I  have  at 

all  times  received  from  you  as  my  superior  in  office.  T.M." 

"  The  resolution  ordered  that  your  note  of  resignation  be  entered 

on  the  minutes." 


Chapter  VI. 

REMOVAL  TO  BIRMINGHAM,  AND  ACQUAINTANCE  WITH 

DR.  NEWMAN  AND  HIS  THREE  SHAMS,  1848-52. 

Having  been  invited  to  the  pastorate  of  the  church  worshipping 
in  Highbury  Chapel,  Graham-street,  Birmingham,  I  sent  the  fol- 
lowing acceptance  : — 

"  Prescot,  Lancashire,  March  28,  1848. 

To  tee  Church  of  Christ  assembling  for  Worship  in  Highbury  Chapel, 
Graham-street,  Birmingham. 

Christian  Friends, — I  shall  not  detain  you  by  a  long  formal  letter  in  reply  to 
the  invitation  received  by  me  to  become  your  pastor.  There  are  many  deeply 
rooted  associations  connecting  me  with  my  present  sphere  of  labour  which  would 
prevent  me  hastily  abandoning  it  for  another,  but  I  am  emboldened  to  hope  that 
my  removal  to  Birmingham  would,  under  the  blessing  of  the  great  Head  of  the 
Church,  be  more  conducive  to  my  usefulness  and  to  His  glory.  This  is  my  great 
reason  for  accepting — as  I  do  herewith — the  call  you  have  sent  me.  I  trust  it  is 
not  without  some  wiser  arrangement  than  our  own  that  the  peculiar  combination 
of  circumstances  occurred  which  brought  me  amongst  you  and  led  you  to  seek 
my  further  services.  Tour  prayers  and  exertions,  and  consistency  and  character, 
must  give  efficiency  to  my  labours,  or  they  will  be  in  vain.  The  pulpit  must  be 
seconded  by  the  pews — supported  by  the  cordial  sympathies  and  earnest  efforts 
and  supplications  of  the  church  members  especially.  Could  I  not  rely  upon  this 
I  would  not  consent  to  pre-ide  over  any  people.  Do  not  forget  then  your  own 
part  in  the  contract,  and  then,  I  trust,  God  will  seal  it  with  His  blessing.  The 
cause  is  weak,  but  if  it  be  a  seed  with  the  element  of  life,  though  no  larger  than 
a  grain  of  mustard  seed,  it  will  grow  into  a  tree. 


62 

My  great  work  will  be  in  the  pulpit,  to  bring  forth  from  the  treasury  of  God's 
Word  things  new  and  old,  and  I  trust  that  whatever  doubts  or  difficulties  any 
may  feel  on  religious  subjects  will  be  freely  communicated  to  me,  either  through 
the  medium  of  such  classes  as  may  be  formed,  and  which  I  hope  most  of  you  will 
avail  yourselves  of,  or  by  private  communication. 

With  reliance  on  your  active  co-operation  and  entreaties,  I  entrust  myself 
amongst  you,  praying  the  Great  Teacher  to  enlighten  and  sanctify  me  throngh 
His  Truth  for  our  mutual  edification,  for  the  enlargement  of  His  cause  in  High- 
bury Chapel,  and  the  general  extension  of  pure  and  undefiled  religion  in  your 
town  and  neighbourhood. 

Believe  me  yours,  in  the  bonds  of  the  gospel, 

BEEWIN  GRANT." 

At  the  end  of  about  two  years'  labour  amongst  the  people  here, 
during  which  we  enjoyed  undisturbed  harmony, — though  when  I 
"  took  to"  the  place  "  the  cause"  was  much  shattered  and  in  ill  moral 
repute  from  previous  circumstances,  which  greatly  retarded  our  pro- 
gress,— I  received  a  token  of  esteem  and  regard,  which  I  still  wear 
near  to  my  heart, — in  my  watch-pocket.  Before  referring  further 
to  this  circumstance,  I  may  make  a  remark  here,  which  will  be 
defensive  of  many  a  worthy  minister  who  works  against  wind  and 
tide,  and  whose  want  of  palpable  success  in  his  church  and  congre- 
gation militates  unfairly  against  his  promotion  to  some  less  barren 
ground,  and  in  some  instances  diminishes  the  estimation  in  which 
he  is  held  by  his  more  fortunate  brethren  and  the  denomination 
generally. 

It  is  too  commonly  imagined  that  the  town  in  which  a  minister 
"  settles"  is  the  "  sphere"  of  his  labour  ;  and  that  his  efficiency  is 
to  be  measured  by  this  extent  of  opportunity  ;  whereas,  it  may  be, 
and  too  often  happens,  that  the  chapel  or  "  cause"  with  which  he 
is  connected  is  the  boundary  of  his  sphere ;  and  instead  of  standing 
on  his  own  merits,  he  is  regarded  as  the  representative  of  that 
place  ;  and  if  it  is  reputable,  he  may  be  powerful,  but  if  it  has  an 
ill  odour,  and  a  miserable  history,  as  too  often  is  the  case,  he  will 
be  clothed  in  popular  estimation  with  the  character  of  his  place.  In 
ordinary  circumstances,  any  church  would  be  successful  if  its 
members  were  honest,  earnest,  and  active  :  but  when  they  do  not 
help  a  minister,  but  on  the  contrary  weigh  him  down  with  the  dead 
weight  of  their  traditional  reputation,  acquired  perhaps  before  he 
"  took  the  oversight"  of  them,  his  want  of  success  is  from  their 
want  of  religion. 

I  speak  this  for  others  :  it  in  no  way  applies  to  my  old  friends  in 
Birmingham  ;  nor  were  they  responsible  for  any  odium  which  rested 
on  the  place  when  I  went  to  it.  This  resulted,  from  what  I  feel 
pleasure  in  saying  very  seldom  occurs  amongst  us,  a  stigma  on 


63 

the  pulpit : — though  whether  even  that  was  deserved,  or  was  greatly 
the  result  of  exaggerated  gossip  against  the  previous  occupant,  I  do 
not  decide. 

No  doubt  we  have  some  ministers,  whom  some  would  irreve- 
rently call  "  muffs,"  though  perhaps  it  would  take  a  very  able  man 
to  preach  better,  under  the  circumstances  in  which  these  ministers 
are  placed  ;  and  the  brightest  intellect  and  warmest  heart  would 
become  dull  and  saddened,  by  the  absence  of  that  hope  and  practi- 
cal sympathy  which  are  the  main-springs  of  even  spiritualized 
genius.  I  write  this  for  my  brethren  as  I  have  always  defended 
their  honour,  interests,  and  liberty.  It  is  for  the  churches  also, 
that  they  should  consider  more  intelligently  the  conditions  of  suc- 
cess, and  that  in  looking  for  "a  man  that  will  draw,"  they  should 
take  care  that  he  is  not  surrounded  by  those  who  will  repel :  for 
people  outside  do  not  so  much  trouble  themselves  to  examine  our 
principles  in  the  abstract,  as  to  point  to  specimens  in  the  concrete. 

But  this  is  "  episodical,"  as  Mr.  Miall  said, — my  prayer  was  at 
the  end  of  an  Anti- State  Church  Tract, — "considering  the  main 
object  of  the  Association." 

I  will  therefore  keep  my  friends  no  longer  waiting,  but  permit 
them  to  read  their  address  on  presenting  me  with  a  valuable  gold 
watch  and  chain,  at  our  Christmas  tea  meeting,  being  the  close  of 
my  second  year  among  them. 

That  address,  which  is  as  follows,  like  many  other  elements  of  this 
history,  was  found  among  my  providentially  recovered  papers  : — 

"  Birmingham,  December  24th,  1849. 
Dear  Pastor, — We,  the  members  of  the  Church  and  Congregation,  avail 
ourselves  of  the  present  opportunity  of  returning  our  sincere  thanks  for  the* 
valuable  instruction  you  have  been  instrumental  in  imparting  to  us  :  the  classes 
you  have  formed,  the  works  you  have  written,  the  lectures  you  have  delivered, 
(independently  of  your  numerous  ministerial,  duties.)  have  all  tended  to  our 
mental  advancement.  Participating  in  these,  and  observing  the  disinterested- 
ness with  which  you  have  ever  sought  to  elevate  our  minds  and  defend  truth, 
has  often  led  us  to  wish  for  an  opportunity  of  evincing  the  high  esteem  with 
which  we  regard  your  instruction.  We  therefore  embrace  the  present  one,  by 
requesting  you  to  accept  the  accompanying  Testimonial  as  a  mark  of  the  same." 

Some  of  the  lectures  referred  to  in  the  above  address  were  of  a 
literary  and  philosophical  character ;  but  the  greater  part  were  in 
relation  to  Infidelity  and  Romanism,  against  both  of  which  I  have 
been  "  a  man  of  war  from"  my  "  youth,"  and  I  hope  to  die  in 
harness. 

Amongst  the  various  subjects  publicly  treated  of,  I  may  mention 
a  careful  analysis  of   the  Rev.  H.   W.   Wilberforce's   "  Thirteen 


64 

ReasonsTT  for  Joining' the  Church  of ;  Rome  which  u  reasons"  he 
declared  satisfied,  the  conscience  of  one  Rev.  Mr,  Swallowell,  a  long 
time  ago  :  and  therefore  I  called  my  answer  : — "  The  Swallowell 
Family,  &c,"  showing  what  their  capacious  receptivity  could  take 
down. 

During  my  Birmingham  pastorate  3>r.  Newman  gave  his  famous 
Lectures  to  the  Brothers  of  the  Oratory  of  St.  Philip  Neri,  on 
"  Catholicism  in  England,"  to  which  I  replied  weekly,  under  the 
title  of  "  Orations  to  the  Oratorians,  a  Supplement  to  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Newman's  Lectures  on  Catholicism  in  England."  The  substance 
of  these  I  printed  in  "  The  Bible  and  the  People,"  a  sixpenny 
monthly  periodical,  which  I  began  to  edit  in  January,  1851,  and 
carried  on  for  several  years,  till  the  end  of  my  "  three  years 
Mission  to  the  Working  Classes." 

The  lectures  just  referred  to, — "  Orations  to  the  Oratorians,"  I 
republished,  in  a  separate  form.  The  effect  of  these  four  orations 
may  be  understood  from  the  fact  that  Dr.  Newman  was  obliged  to 
horten  his  publicly  announced  twelve  Lectures  into  nine.  People 
who  had  paid  for  tickets  on  the  whole  course  were  allowed  to 
receive  their  money  back  for  the  unfulfilled  part  of  the  contract. 

Having  thus  silenced  this  great  gun,  I  finislied  his  course  by 
giving  the  three  lectures  which  he  ought  to  have  given,  and  pub- 
lished them  under  the  following  title  : — "  The  Three  Shams  : — 
the  Sham  Peter,  called  the  Pope  : — the  Sham  Church,  called  the 
Infallible  :  and   the  Sham  Bible,  called  Douay  and  Tradition." 

These  were  delivered  in  the  Birmingham  Town  Hall,  to  vast  over- 
flowing audiences.  We  Dissenters  had  a  little  before  seemed  to 
favour  papists,  by  not  accepting  "  The  Ecclesiastical  Titles  Act;  " 
as  we  ignorantly  thought  it  was  a  question  of  words  and  names  of 
their  law,  and  not  an  insidious  advance  of  power. 

This  our  compliance  was  considered  a  favourable  opportunity  for 
introducing  Romanism  in  rose  colour  by  the  effeminate  and  plau- 
sible pervert,  who  imagined  that  we  were  in  an  impressible  state  of 
mind  ;  so  I  gave  him  my  impression  of  the  whole  affair,  in  replies 
that  silenced  him,  and  in  the  "  Three  Shams,"  which  shut  him  up 
safely  in  his  Oratory. 

The  short  preface  to  these  lectures  will  sufficiently  explain  their 
nature,  and  the  occasion  of  my  delivering  them. 

The  following  lectures  were  occasioned  by  the  recent  movements  of  the  Papal 
party  in  Birmingham,  who  endeavoured  to  take  advantage  of  what  they  expected 
would  be  a  reaction  of  public  feeling;  and,  accordingly  brought  forward  their 
pervert,  Dr.  Newman,  to  parade  before  the  town,  under  the  guise  of  lecture  to  the 


65 

"  Brothers  of  the  Oratory,"  the  rights  and  the  wrongs  of  Romanism,  in  a  series  of 
lectures  on  "  Catholicism  in  England."  The  Eomanists  seem  to  reckon  noon  the 
silence  or  neutrality  of  those  dissenters  -who  had  opposed  legislative  measures 
against  the  impudent  aggression ;  whilst  in  their  attack  on  Protestantism  they 
ignored  the  liberal  services  of  their  presumed  allies,  and,  indeed,  appeared  for- 
getful of  their  existence,  as  these  champions  of  the  Pope  advanced  against 
"Elizabethan  Protestantism,"  expecting  by  dead  history  and  obsolete  formalities 
to  storm  the  stronghold  of  the  national  church. 

The  author  of  the  following  lectures  felt  bound,  therefore,  to  spoil  the  calcu- 
lation of  these  wise  men  from  the  Vatican,  by  coming  forth  from  his  corner  to 
open  the  masked  battery  against  which  the  Church  militant  had  so  conveniently 
closed  her  eyes.  He  first  refuted  and  effectually  exposed  the  pitiful  device  of 
Dr.  Newman  in  the  vain  attempt  to  repaint  the  Roman  Jezebel  by  blackening 
Elizabethanism.  This  he  did  in  a  course  of  "  Four  Orations  to  the  Oratorians, 
— a  Supplement  to  Dr.  Newman's  Lectures."  And  since  during  the  delivery  of 
these,  Dr.  Newman  took  down  his  flag,  and  lessened  his  course  from  twelve  to 
nine  lectures,  the  author  of  the  following,  determined  to  expose  the  very  foun- 
dations of  the  Papal  fraud,  by  three  lectures  on  the  Sham  Peter,  &c,  being  ac- 
cording to  announcement,  the  "three  lectures  Dr.  Newman  should  have  de- 
livered, to  finish  his  twelve." 

The  vast,  intelligent,  and  enthusiastic  audiences  with  which  he  was  favoured, 
induced  him  to  publish  the  lectures  in  a  permanent  form,  as  a  short,  simple,  and 
unanswerable  exposure  of  the  Romish  cheat. 

These  Lectures,  with  others  on  Romanism,  Ritualism  and 
Rationalism,  can  at  any  time  be  re -delivered,  by  arrangement  with 
the  Author. 


Chapter  Vii. 

«  A  GREAT  DOOR  AND  EFFECTUAL  IS  OPENED  TO  ME," 
for  a  "  Three' Years'  Mission"  to  the  Working  Classes;  recom- 
mended by  the  Rev.  John  Angell  James,  supported  by  Samuel 
Mop.ley,  Esq.,  but  contrary  to  the  express  desire  and  advice 
of  Mr.  G.  J.  Holyoaee.— 1850-54. 

The  nature  of  my  efforts  and  the  recognition  I  received  at  this 
time,  as  contributing  to  the  public  good  by  the  defence  of  religion 
against  superstition  and  scepticism,  may  be  seen  from  the  following 
selection  from  "  the  contents"  of  "The  Bible  and  the  People"  for 
1851,  and  from  the  "Opinions  of  the  Press." 

These  are  given  for  two  reasons,  first  to  fulfil  the  purposes  of  an 
Autobiography,  by  letting  the  reader  see  in  what  line  my  thoughts 
and  actions  were  engaged ;  and  secondly  to  show  what  I  am  still 
prepared  to  advocate  by  tongue  and  pen. 


66 

CONTENTS  OF  "THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE,"  for  1851. 

I.  1.  Christianity  a  Seasonable  Beligion.  2.  The  Keys  of  the  kingdom  ; 
what  they  are  and  who  stole  them.  3.  Free  Thoughts  for  Free  Thinkers. 
4.  The  Provinces  of  Science,  Philosophy,  and  Religion. 

II.  1.  The  Inscription  on  the  Cross ;  its  three  Languages  and  their  Lessons. 
2.  Peter's  Keys  and  the  Pope's  Picklocks.  3.  The  House  of  Merchandise.  4. 
The  Atheist's  Box;  or  the  Arguments  from  design.  5.  Mind  and  Matter  ;  their 
Evidences  and  Distinctions. 

III.  1.  Reason  not  Rationalism  ;  or  true  Methods  of  Interpreting  the  Scrip- 
tures. 2.  Ecclesiastical  Polity.  3.  Infidels'  candour  and  knowledge  of  the 
Scriptures. 

IV.  1.  The  Bible  our  true  Magna  Charta.  2.  Rome's  Logic,  scheme  the 
first.  3.  The  Ecclesiastical  Marriage  Bill.  4.  Infidel  Tactics.  5.  The  Nature 
of  Faith  and  Science. 

V.  1.  The  Permanent  Test  of  Relicious  Truth  in  the  Written  Word  of  God. 
2.  Kor:ih,  Dathan,  and  Abiram.  3.  Mene  Mene  Tekel  Upharsin.  4.  Passages 
from  the  Life  of  an  Enquirer,     o.  The  Nature  of  Faith. 

VI.  1.  The  Gathering  of  the  Nations.  2.  Church  Extension.  3.  Passages 
from  the  Life  of  on  Inquirer.  4.  Mind  and  Matter ;  their  Evidences  and  Dis- 
tinctions. 

VII.  1.  The  Basis  of  Human  Brotherhood  in  the  Bible  Doctrine  of  "  One 
God  and  Father  of  all."  2.  The  Reformation  Reformed.  3.  The  Theory  of 
Intolerance  involved  in  Words  and  Names  applied  to  Religious  Parties  and 
Doctrines.  4.  Passages  from  the  Life  of  an  Inquirer.  5.  Autobiography  of  an 
Atheist. 

VIII.  1.  The  true  Apostles'  Creed ;  or  the  New  Testament  Canon  of 
Life  and  Doctrine,  in  the  Person  of  Jesus  Christ.  2.  The  Rev.  George 
Shallowell  and  his  Family  Connexions ;  (or,  Reasons  for  submitting  to  the 
Church  of  Rome.)  3.  The  Theory  of  Intolerance,  &c,  &c,  concluded.  4. 
Autobiography  of  an  Atheist  continued. 

IX.  1.  The  True  Apostles' Creed;  or  the  New  Testament  Canon  of  Life  and 
Doctrine,  in  the  Person  of  Jesus  Christ.  2.  Roman  Oratory,  and  Protestant 
Logic.  3.  Autobiography  of  an  Atheist.  4.  Passages  from  the  Life  of  an  In- 
quirer. 5.  The  Evidence  of  Testimony  and  its  Special  Application  to  the  Truth 
of  Christianity.     6.  Mind  and  Matter ;  their  Evidences  and  Distinctions. 

X.  1.  The  True  Apostles'  Creed  ;  or  the  New  Testament  Canon  of  Life  and 
Doctrine  in  the  Person  of  Jesus  Christ.  2.  St.  Philip  Neri,  Founder  of  the 
Oratorians;  "  his  Maxims  and  Sayings."  3.  The  Rev.  Robert  Nares,  A.M.,  on  the 
character  of  Christ.  4.  Mind  and  Matter ;  their  Evidences  and  Distinctions.  5. 
The  Vision.  6.  Labour  and  Capital,  or  Men  and  Masters ;  their  Rights  and 
Duties. 

OPINIONS  OF  THE  PRESS. 

"The  Bible  and  the  People." — A  very  good  idea,  very  well  and  very  ably 
executed.  It  promises  to  do  excellent  service  against  more  than  one  class  of 
adversaries.  The  divisions  of  the  work  are  'Christ's  Religion,'  the  'Priest's 
Religion,'  the '  Statesman's  Religion,'  the  '  Infidel's  Religion,'  and  '  the  Philosophy 
of  Human  Nature.'  Under  these  five  heads,  the  two  numbers  now  before  us  supply 
a  batch  of  excellent  specimen  articles.  We  wish  the  publication  all  possible 
success." — British  Banner. 

"The  department  of  labour  here  undertaken  is,  we  believe,  unoccupied,  and  is 
one  in  which  great  service  may  be  done :  this  first  number  contains  much  food  for 


67 

thought,  and  acute  clever  "writing.  We  shall  he  glad  to  find  the  Editor's  boldness 
and  energy  appropriately  rewarded.  There  is  much  suggestive  matter  throughout 
the  [II.]  number." — Tlie  Nonconformist, 

"  The  first  number  is  varied  in  its  contents,  sound  in  its  principles,  and  healthy 
in  its  tone.     It  is  a  great  step  taken  towards  attaining  the  object  aimed  at. 

"  '  Free  Thoughts  for  Free  Thinkers,'  for  the  great  body  of  the  working  classes, 
these  'thoughts,'  clearly  expressed  in  plain  terms,  addressed  to  their  reason  and 
experience,  are  peculiarly  valuable. — Birmingham  Journal. 

"  We  cordially  recommend  it.     The  popular  forms  of  infidelity  are  here  met  in 

a  bolder  and  better  way  than  we  have  seen  in  any  periodical.    There  is  no  mistake 

about  the  heartiness  and  ability  with  which  the  Editor  advocates  his  views. 

"  The  paper  on  '  The  Keys,'  &c,  is  inimitable,  both  as  a  polemical  piece  and 

an  exposition." — Hastings  and  St.  Leonard's  Netcs. 

"  In  these  times,  when  all  principles  are  being  sifted,  and  the  minds  of  many 
are  unsettled,  especially  in  regard  to  the  fundamentals  of  Christianity,  such  a 
popular  publication  as  this  is  much  needed,  and  on  these  grounds  '  The  Bible 
and  the  People'  is  calculated  to  make  its  way. 

'•  Sceptics'  Eeligion'  contains  excellent  arguments,  and  will  be  read  with 
interest  by  the  class  for  whom  it  is  intended.  The  '  Infidel  Press'  is  manfully 
grappled  with.  The  work  is  calculated  to  lead  the  reader  to  think  deeply  on  the 
most  important  subjects,"  &c. — Birmingham  Mercury. 

"  The  Bible  and  the  People." — "  This  new  monthly  magazine  aims  to  be 
popular  without  being  feeble  ;  adapted  to  the  unlearned  readers,  without  coming 
down  to  the  level  of  those  who  wish  to  be  saved  the  trouble  of  thinking.  It  has 
begun  well.  We  know  not  when  we  have  met,  in  a  periodical  of  the  same  class, 
with  so  much  solid  matter  so  clearly  and  vigorously  expressed.  We  should  rejoice 
to  know  that  our  young  men,  and  intelligent  mechanics  especially,  were  exten- 
sively availing  themselves  of  the  helps  here  afforded  to  the  right  understanding 
of  the  great  religious  questions  of  the  age.  It  icill  now  be  their  own  fault  if 
they  do  not  become  well  grounded  in  the  principles  and  evidences  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  prepared  to  deal  alike  with  the  pretensions  of  priestcraft, 
and  the  objections  and  schemes  of  infidelity.  On  all  these  topics  valuable 
instruction  is  conveyed  in  these  pages.  The  last,  especially,  we  would 
mention  as  treated  in  a  candid  and  intelligent  spirit,  rendering  the  work  very 
suitable  to  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  doubting  or  unbelieving,  and  Chris- 
tians may  do  good  service  to  the  cause  they  advocate,  and  to  the  souls  of  men, 
by  promoting  its  circulation  amongst  them. — The  Bristol  Examiner  and 
Bath  Record. 

"  It  is  almost  original  in  its  plan,  and  it  is  bold  and  effective  in  its  execution. 
Its  permanent  contents  range  under  five  heads : — I.  Christ's  Eeligion.  II. 
Priests'  Eeligion.  III.  Statesmen's  Eeligion.  IV.  Sceptics'  Eeligion.  V.  The 
Philosophy  of  Human  Nature. 

"  The  first  head  in  both  numbers  is  '  Christ's  Eeligion,1  which  is  admirably 
discussed,  so  far  as  the  subject  has  as  yet  been  carried.  The  second  in  both  is 
'  Priests'  Eeligion,'  of  which,  as  of  the  other,  we  can  only  at  present  express  our 
strong  approbation.  '  The  keys  of  the  kingdom'  are  found,  though  to  great  num- 
bers who  claim  to  be  of  the  kingdom,  they  are  still  at  the  bottom  of  the  well ; 
and  found  they  are  here  dexterously  applied,  and  many  who  have  boasted  that 
they  are  in  the  exclusive  possession  of  them,  are  actually  shut  out. 

"  The  fourth  head,  the  '  Sceptics'  Eeligion,'  containing  in  the  two  num- 
bers, 'Free  Thoughts  to  the  Free  Thinkers,'  and  the  'Atheist's  Box,  or  the 
Argument  from  Design,'  is  exceedingly  seasonable,  and  will  greatly  aid  the  stu- 


68 

dent  in  unravelling  the  sophistries  of  the  sceptic.  The  l  Philosophy  of  Human 
Nature,'  in  both  numbers,  opens  up  a  fine  field  to  the  metaphysical  mind,  into 
which  the  Editor  has  entered  with  clear  perceptions,  fully  prepared  to  instruct 
those  who  follow  him,  by  means  of  plain  language  and  powerful  reasoning. 
"  We  cannot  leave  the  subject  without  saying  to  students  and  young  ministers 
— see  how  you  are  surrounded  !  Here  is  a  quiver,  from  which  you  may  draw  at 
pleasure  well  winged  and  sharp  arrows,  by  which  you  may  wound  systems,  and 
reduce  their  supporters  to  hold  parley  with  you,  while  you  propound  to  them  the 
glad  news  of  a  Saviour's  love.  We  have  here  a  Scriptural  Theology,  healthy 
and  vigorous  philosophy,  and  an  unsophisticated  logic,  united  with  searching 
inquiry,  and  a  masculine  love  of  the  good  and  the  great,  which  render  the 
magazine  of  great  value  in  our  estimation.  And  solely,  for  their  own  sake  and 
the  truth's  sake,  we  advise  our  readers  to  give  early  orders. — The  Christian 
News. 

These  public  appearances  led  some  to  consider  that  it  might  be 
useful  to  engage  my  services  for  more  public  work  than  the 
pastorate  of  a  single  church. 

It  was  moreover  considered  that  some  such  general  advocacy  of 
religion  as  I  was  supposed  able  to  conduct  was  peculiarly  required 
by  the  signs  of  the  times.  Samuel  Morley,  Esq.,  ever  foremost 
in  works  of  benevolence,  was  prepared  to  aid  in  its  support,  and 
the  Kev.  John  Angell  James,  of  Birmingham,  wrote  to  the  British 
Banner,  urging  that  I  should  be  induced  and  enabled  to  enter  upon 
a  work  for  which  he  was  pleased  to  say  I  was  peculiarly  fitted. 

It  was  eventually  arranged  that  I  should  be  so  engaged  in  a 
"Three  Years'  Mission  to  the  Working  Classes  ;"  and  I  was  left 
entirely  without  control  by  any  committee  or  individual :  I  do  not 
even  know  who  contributed  towards  my  salary,  but  only  that  Mr. 
Moeley  regularly  sent  it,  and  I  understood  that  he  was  one  of  six 
who  secured  it  for  three  years,  and  gave  me  the  country  for  my 
diocese.  I  believe  that  George  Moore,  Esq.,  of  Bow  Church-yard, 
London,  was  one  of  the  contributors,  as  I  believe  it  was  at  his 
request,  through  Mr.  Morley,  that  I  visited  Cumberland  and 
lectured  and  preached  extensively  there,  as  a  part  of  the  country  in 
which  Mr.  Moore  felt  a  special  interest. 

I  often  lectured  six  nights  a  week,  and  preached  three  times  on 
&  Sunday,  in  all  sorts  of  chapels,  and  for  all  sorts  of  occasions, 
Sunday  schools,  anniversaries,  &c. 

The  regulation  was,  that  parties  who  invited  me  paid  the 
expenses,  and  received  my  services  gratis. 

During  this  tour  I  received  much  kindness  and  consideration 
from  clergy  and  ministers,  and  the  laity  of  all  denominations. 

Mr.  George  Jacob  Holyoake,  who  then  had  the  run  of  the 
country,  was  extremely  jealous  of  this  Mission ;  and  seeing  the 


69 

recommendatory  letter  of  the  Rev.  John  Angell  James,  wrote  to 
warn  the  Christian  public  against  supposing  that  there  was  any 
necessity  for  it,  or  that  the  agent  proposed  was  suitable ;  and  while 
publicly  engaged  in  demanding  : — "  Why  the  Clergy  avoid  discus- 
sion ?  "  he  professed  to  be  just  about  caving  in,  offering  to  work  in 
"  parallel"  lines  with  the  clergy  whom  he  perpetually  insulted,  and 
with  his  usual  adroitness  he  nattered  Mr.  James,  and  abused  the 
agency  proposed,  as  not  likely  to  exhibit  the  meekness  and  respect 
which  the  infidel  would  assume  on  occasions  towards  those  whom 
he  had  most  frequently  outraged. 

"  To  the  Editor  of  the  British  Banfief: 
Sir, — The  letter  of  your  venerable  and  distinguished  correspondent,  the  Eev. 
John  Angell  James,  has  been  read  by  me  with  great  interest.    I  may  smile  at  its 
strange  statistics  of  free-thinking  resources ;  but  I  am  not  insensible  to  the  be- 
nevolent feeling  which  breathes  throughout  the  letter — a  feeling  which  I  can 
appreciate,  though  I  deem  it  misdirected."      "  Let  me  tell  Mr.  James,  that  I  am 
so  far  from  looking  back  with  '  contempt'  on  past  relations  with  him,  that 
I  am  disposed  to  pay  great  deference  to  the  notice  he  has  done  me  the  honour  to 
bestow  upon  me  ;  and  I  will  therefore  say  to  him,  what  I  would  not  say  to  mem- 
bers of  that  "  Mission'  ;  he  proposes : — Why  is  it  that  we  are  still  addressed  as 
*  infidels,'  though  we  are  not  so  (!)  in  the  sense  in  which  either  the  public,  or  Mr. 
James  himself  understands  that  offensive  term  ?     Why  does  he  speak  of  our 
views  as  '  Atheism,'  while  we  choose  another  name,  more  truly  (!)  expressing 
our  convictions?    '  The  young  minister'  has  a  position  to  win,  and  he  proposes(?) 
to  make  himself  felt  by  obnoxious  epithets — thinking  that  to  make   himself 
felt  is  to  make  himself  a  power.      He  mistakes  harshness  for  faithfulness, 
imagining  that  when  he  has  denounced  he  has  conquered,  and  that  when  he  has 
irritated,  he  has  persuaded.     But  the  eminence  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  James,  renders 
these  arts  as  unnecessary  to  his  distinction  as  they  must  be  incompatible  with  the 
dictates  of  his  wiser  experience,  which  must  teach  him   that   the  people  will 
naturally  ask,     '  How  can  we  expect   truth  when  we  do  not  find  courtesy?' 
The  tone  the  Christian  Spectator  has  of  late  manifested  towards  free-thinkers 
would  command  the  patient  attention  of  a  thousand  auditors,  who  would  not  give 
half  an  hour  to  a  biting  sarcasm,  and  a  nibbling  logic.    If  the  proposed  mission 
proceeds  on  the  assumption  (!)  that  we  paint  the  Clergy  as  the  enemies  of  the 
working  class,  it  would  do  us  injustice.  (!)      "We  do  not  doubt  the  good  intention 
of  Christian  ministers,  though  we  dispute  the  wisdom  of  their  means.     If  the 
*  Mission'  assumes  that  we  '  subvert  the  faith  of  the  people,'  it  will  fail  (!)      We 
do  not  subvert  faith ;  we  systematise  opinion,  and  direct  practical  issues  which 
might  run  parallel  with  Christianity,  if  you  would  let  them.    But  history  will 
one  day  tell  with  astonishment  (! !)  that  in  the  hour  when  scepticism  laid  down 
Its  antagonism,   Christianity  took  it  up. 

I  have  the  honour  to  be, 

Your  obedient  servant, 
Nov.  14,  1852.  GEO.  JACOB  HOLYOAKE." 

In  exhibition  of  this  gentleman's  peculiar  courtesy,  the  following 
reply  to  his  "  laying  down  antagonism"  was  sent  to  the  same 
paper  : — 


70 

"  To  the  Editor  of  the  '  British  Banner.' 
Sir, — Mr.  Holyoake  declared  in  your  last  that  he  was  "  far  from  looking  back 
with  contempt"  of  Mr.  James'  Sunday  school,  and  expressed  great  admiration 
and  respect  for  Mr.  James  in  order  to  exhibit  bitterness  to  one  who  had  a  position 
to  win.  Mr.  Holyoake  has  a  position  to  lose  ;  he  enquires  : — How  can  there  be 
truth  when  there  is  no  courtesy  ?  Now  it  is  certain  we  may  not  look  for  truth 
where  there  are  lies  and  hypocrisy.  These  are  plain  words.  I  flatter  no  man : 
that  may  be  left  to  the  Christian  Spectator.  Please  to  print  the  following  pre- 
face, by  Mr.  Holyoake,  to  an  insolent  tirade  on  Mr.  James'  Anxious  Enquirer, 
which  Mr.  Holyoake  inserted  in  the  Reasoner,  No.  70,  p.  527,  vol.  hi.  The 
following  is  a  copy,  and  your  readers  may  judge  how  far  a  mission  is  requisite  to 
open  the  eyes  of  the  working  classes  to  the  practice  of  these  truth-seekers  : — 
1  Five  years  of  my  youth  were  wasted  in  the  Sunday  school  of  Carr's-lane  Chapel. 
Every  Sunday  once,  and  generally  twice,  during  that  long  period,  it  was  my  mis- 
fortune to  sit  under  the  Rev.  Angell  James,  a  believing  recipient  of  such  pernicious 
trash  as  that  in  the  Anxious  Enquirer,  to  which  Mr.  Chilton  usefully  draws 
attention.  If  ever  I  and  the  Rev.  John  Angell  James  meet  at  the  bar  of  Cod, 
and  justice  is  there  afforded  for  those  who  have  been  wronged  in  life,  I  shall  de- 
mand at  the  hands  of  the  Rev.  John  Angell  James  the  restitution  of  the  buoyant 
years  of  my  youth  which  he  so  clouded  with  melancholy  and  anxious  early 
thoughts.  Next  to  the  evil  to  which  I  thus  suffered  was  the  misery  inflicted  on 
many  near  and  dear  to  me.  Distinct  before  me  at  this  moment  are  the  agonising 
expressions  of  those  who  believed  or  feared  they  had  committed  the  redoubtable 
sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost.  Without  fear  of  contradiction  I  venture  the  opinion 
that  if  the  Holy  Ghost  has  a  particle  of  humanity  in  Him  there  is  no  sin  against 
Him  like  writing  Anxious  Enquirers.  Devoutly  thankful  am  I  to  stand  where  I 
do,  looking  down  on  the  dangers,  the  traps,  the  gins  and  pitfalls  of  evangelical 
piety  which  I  have  escaped.  Rightly  did  Shelley  exclaim,  '  I  would  rather  be 
damned  with  Plato  and  Lord  Bacon  than  go  to  heaven  with  Malthus  and  Paley;' 
(that  is,  Mr.  Holyoake  would  rather  be  damned  than  go  to  heaven  with  John 
Angell  James.)  If  in  Birmingham  I  should  think  it  my  duty  to  distribute  a 
copy  of  Mr.  Chilton's  article  (on  the  Anxious  Enquirer)  to  every  member  of 
Mr.  James'  congregation,  and  to  the  teachers  in  the  Sunday  School.  I  hope 
some  friend  will  do  it  to  the  Sunday  school  teachers,  as  a  matter  of  conscience, 
to  save  them,  not  only  from  the  wrath  to  come,  but  from  the  wrath  that  is  come 
wherever  Anxious  Inquiries  have  gone.  I  shall  send  Mr.  James  a  copy.' — Ed. — 
i.e.,  George  Jacob  Holyoake.  The  above  is  word  for  word ;  and  I  ask  whether 
Mr.  Holyoake  can  pretend  to  truthfulness  after  this  and  his  letter  of  last  week. 

'  THE  YOUNG  MINISTER.'  "  * 

The  Secular  advocate  got  out  of  this  fierce  attack  on  a  minister 
whom  "  for  the  nonce"  he  professed  to  respect,  by  saying  that  for 
this  coarseness  he  is  called  "  rude,"  and  that  when  he  shows  good 
feeling  instead  of  bad,  this  "form  of  good  feeling  is  made  an 
offence."  But  it  was  not  the  "good  feeling"  that  was  condemned, 
but  the  hypocritical  pretence  of  it  by  one  who  had  shown  the 
opposite. 

It  would  take  up  too  large  a  space  to  enter  upon  all  the  details 
of  my  Mission  ;    but  the  following  description  of  one  portion  of  it, 

*  Both  these  letters  were  quoted  in  the  Cowper-street  Debate,  pp.  IS— 20. 


71 

accidently  picked  up,  as  I  was  beginning  to  write  this  chapter,  may 
be  appropriate  here.  I  do  not  know  the  writer  of  it,  and  anxjr 
wonder  at  his  acquaintance  with  some  details  of  my  life. 

It  appeared  in  the  Rochdale  Sentinel,  in  which  there  had  been 
ten  previous  descriptions  of  clergymen  and  ministers,  under  the 
title  of  "  Clerical  Portraits."  It  was  reprinted  in  "the  Bible  and 
the  People,"  in  November  1854,  and  serves  as  corroborative  testi- 
money  as  to  my  engagements  about  this  time. 

"  The  subject  of  to-day's  sketch,  though  not  a  Lancashire  man, 
is  probably  well  known  by  name  to  the  majority  of  our  readers.  He 
has  been  engaged  during  the  present  week  in  delivering  three  lec- 
tures at  the  Corn  Exchange,  Manchester,  on  the  new  phase  of 
infidelity  called  secularism,  in  reply  to  the  arguments  of  its  chief 
advocates,  Messrs.  G.  J.  Holyoake,  Joseph  Barker,  and  Charles 
Southwell.  The  lectures  were  well  attended.  The  audience  on  all 
three  occasions  consisted  almost  wholly  of  working  men.  We  have 
rarely  seen  a  speaker  followed  with  deeper  interest.  His  remarks 
told  with  very  powerful  effect.  For  full  two  hours  his  addresses, 
racy,  witty,  sarcastic,  and  convincing,  were  listened  to  with  unflag- 
ging attention,  relieved  at  intervals  by  hearty  applause.  Believing, 
as  we  do,  that  the  spread  of  atheistic  views  is  fraught  with  the 
utmost  peril  to  the  interests  of  the  commonwealth,  which  are  neces- 
sarily bound  up  with  those  of  religion,  we  cannot  but  rejoice  that 
they  have  found  an  antagonist  who  is  endowed  with  the  very  talents 
which  are  requsite  to  unmask  their  sophistry,  and  hold  them  up  to 
the  scorn  of  the  people. 

Ministers  of  religion  are  often  reluctant  to  meet  the  advocates  of 
infidelity  upon  the  platform,  and  the  feeling  is  not  without  some 
measure  of  justification.  Christianity  has  stood  its  ground  for 
eighteen  centuries,  and  is  too  old  a  veteran  to  be  bound  in  honour 
to  take  notice  of  every  vapouring  puppy  who  may  aspire  to  win  a 
little  prestige  by  essaying  a  passage-at-arms.  If  it  is,  as  it  claims  to 
be,  eternal  truth,  it  can  well  afford  to  let  its  assailants  exhaust, 
without  interruption,  their  small  stock  of  enmity  and  ingenuity. 
The  chief  motive  to  an  opposite  course  is  supplied  by  the  apprehen- 
sion that  error  may  do  much  damage  before  it  confutes  itself.  This 
is  true,  but  perhaps  still  greater  damage  would  flow  from  an  eager 
haste  to  confute  it.  When  we  know  that  our  doors  and  windows 
are  well  bolted  and  barred,  we  can  lie  down  to  rest  in  peace.  To 
sit  on  the  watch  all  night  would  betray  a  suspicion  that  our  defences 
are  weak.  But  though  we  are  not  among  those  who  censure 
ministers  of  religion  for  their  reluctance  to  engage  in  platform  cis- 


72 

cussions  with  the  advocates  of  infidelity,  we  admit  the  nuisance 
which  such  a  course  will  occasion,  if  persevered  in  too  long.  Mr. 
Holyoake  has  imputed  the  silence  of  the  clergy  to  their  fears,  forget- 
ting that  confidence  or  contempt  would  produce  the  same  result, 
and  has  gone  everywhere  proclaiming  himself  a  champion  they  dared 
not  encounter.  It  was  high  time  to  put  a  stop  to  this  nuisance,  and 
Mr.  Grant  has  done  it  most  effectually.  He  has  sought  every  op- 
portunity of  meeting  Mr.  Holyoake,  or  any  other  antagonist,  and 
when  an  opportunity  for  open  discussion  has  been  denied,  he  has 
tracked  the  steps  of  the  recusant,  addressed  the  same  audiences, 
argued  the  question  on  the  same  grounds,  and  generally  with  the 
happiest  results. 

Mr.  Grant  is  quite  at  home  in  controversy.  Its  dust  and  heat 
have  no  terrors  for  him.  The  hotter  the  furnace  waxes,  the  more 
comfortable  he  appears.  He  can  lecture  well  under  the  most  pacific 
circumstances,  but  an  assailant  is  necessayto  put  him  quite  at  ease. 
Nature  made  him  an  intellectual  combatant,  and  he  has  improved 
upon  her  gifts,  by  very  careful  training.  He  carries  all  sorts  of 
weapons,  both  offensive  and  defensive ;  a  keen  Damascus  blade  for 
those  who  are  worthy  of  it,  and  a  stout  heavy  mallet  for  wooden 
heads.  His  fire  arms  are  revolvers,  each  charged  with  half-a-dozen 
balls  ;  the  first  discharge  may  end  with  a  flash,  or  the  ball  may 
miss  the  mark,  but  no  matter,  three  or  four  more  follow  in  as  many 
seconds,  so  that  a  thousand  to  one  if  he  does  not  floor  his  man.  In 
addition  to  these  weapons  for  disposing  of  materials  more  or  less 
solid,  he  carries  about  with  him  a  pleasant  phosphoric  apparatus 
for  burning  men  of  straw.  Mr.  Grant  has  some  disadvantages  on 
the  platform.  He  is  not  of  a  stature  to  undervalue  the  well-known 
mode  of  measurement  approved  by  Dr.  Watts.  His  voice,  too,  is 
neither  musical  nor  of  a  wide  compass.  Sometimes  very  close  atten- 
tion is  required  to  catch  his  words ;  though  this  is  due  in  some  degree 
to  the  rapidity  of  his  enunciation.  Still  he  is  capable  of  making  him- 
self heard  by  very  large  audiences,  and  the  want  of  easy  inflection  in 
his  voice  is  not  felt  as  a  great  loss,  where  strength,  not  beauty,  is 
the  accomplishment  chiefly  requisite.  His  mode  of  thinking  is 
very  clear,  and  his  style  of  speaking  very  sententious.  His  words 
are  well  chosen,  always  weighty,  and  to  the  point.  His  argu- 
ments are  short,  often  compressed  into  a  sentence,  and  so  put  that  it 
is  next  to  impossible  to  miss  their  full  scope.  In  all  cases  of  diffi- 
culty he  has  an  unfailing  resource  in  an  abundant  stock  of  mother 
wit.  This  enables  him  to  keep  an  audience  in  constant  good  humour. 
How  can   they  feel  angry  with  him  when  he  makes  them  laugh  ? 


73 

He  lias  sufficient  dogmatism,  but  not  too  much  for  his  vocation  ; 
and,  moreover,  it  results  from  the  strength  of  his  argumentative 
powers.  He  is  confident,  not  because  he  cannot  give  a  reason,  but 
because  he  can  give  twenty ;  not  because  his  strength  lies  in  mere 
bluster  and  emphasis,  but  because  he  is  conscious  of  being  able  to 
prove  everything  he  says.  He  is  not  very  courtly  to  an  assailant, 
but  he  is  fair  and  honest ;  his  roughest  words  are  on  his  tongue  ; 
the  atmosphere  becomes  more  genial  the  nearer  you  get  to  his  heart. 

It  was  not  quite  of  his  own  accord  that  Mr.  Grant  entered  upon 
his  present  career.  It  was  felt  that  a  stop  should  be  put  to  the 
vapouring  of  Mr.  Holyoake  ;  and  from  Mr.  Grant's  previous  charac- 
ter it  was  thought  difficult  to  find  a  man  better  suited  for  the  task. 
For  several  years  he  has  been  the  conductor  of  a  monthly  serial 
entitled  The  Bible  and  the  People,  most  of  the  articles  in  which  are 
from  his  own  pen.  The  line  of  argument  adopted  in  that  journal 
suggested  a  comparison  with  the  Reasoner,  and  brought  him  into 
collision  with  Mr.  Holyoake.  These  circumstances  led  to  his  being 
requested  to  make  this  department  of  labour  more  fully  his  own — 
a  request  with  which  he  complied.  His  reputation  for  controversy 
was,  however,  fully  established  before  he  took  that  step,  and  descends 
from  his  college  days.  He  was  quite  a  "  crack  man"  at  Glasgow  ; 
he  carried  off  the  head  prizes  in  the  logic  and  moral  philosophy 
classes,  together  with,  if  we  mistake  not,  a  University  medal,  besides 
winning  one  of  the  prizes  which  were  offered,  about  the  same  time, 
by  the  Anti-state  Church  Association,  for  essays  on  the  Anti-state 
Church  question.  He  was  also  a  leading  orator  of  the  '  Liberal 
party '  in  the  University,  in  great  request  at  Lord  Rector  elections, 
and  meetings  for  agitating  the  question  of  University  tests.  His 
reputation  lingered  behind  him,  among  two  or  three  generations  of 
students,  as  a  generally  clever  fellow,  and  especially  a  redoubted 
polemic.  On  leaving  college  his  first  charge  was  at  Prescot,  near 
Liverpool,  where  he  remained  several  years,  till  he  removed  to  Bir- 
mingham. His  success  at  Bh-mingham  has  been  considerable.  The 
titles  he  has  given  to  some  of  his  printed  lectures  are  richly 
humourous:  'The  Swallowell  Family,'  —  how  descriptive  of  the 
present  generation  of  the  "Wilberforces  ;  *  Orations  to  the  Oratorians,' 
— here  Brewin  Grant  takes  his  stand  side  by  side  with  the  Very  Pcev* 
Dr.  Newman,  and  each  waxes  lovelier  by  contrast. 

Mr.  Grant's  lectures  at  the  Corn  Exchange,  Manchester,  treated 
largely  on  matters  relating  to  the  personal  character  and  sentiments 
of  the  leaders  of  the  Secularist  movement.  On  Monday  night,  his 
object  was  to  show  that  Christianity  is  the  only  true  Secularism, 


74 

selecting  for  his  text  the  words  of  Christ,  '  How  much  is  a  man 
better  than  a  sheep  !  '  and  showing  that  the  high  value  which 
Christianity  sets  upon  the  individual  man  lies  at  the  foundation  of 
all  the  humanising  ideas  of  the  present  age.  His  argument  was, 
that  Secularism,  by  denying  man's  higher  nature,  is  fatal  to  man's 
dignity.  The  subject  of  Tuesday's  night  leeture  was,  '  The  last 
trial  by  jury  for  Atheism.'  It  was  a  searching  analysis  of  Mr. 
Holyoake's  conduct,  in  reference  to  the  prosecution  which  he  under- 
went for  blasphemy.  Mr.  Grant  undertook  to  prove  the  following 
propositions. — '  That  the  language  for  which  Mr,  Holyoake  was  prose- 
cuted was  foolish,  illogical,  and  blasphemous ;  that  it  was  foolish, 
nevertheless,  by  bringing  him  to  trial  for  it,  to  give  him  the  prestige 
of  a  martyr  :  that,  after  all,  it  was  not  Christianity  that  sent  him  to 
gaol ;  and  that  his  conduct  in  gaol,  as  well  as  the  conduct  of  his 
disciples  towards  him,  constituted  a  miserable  illustration  of  infidel 
principles.'  Under  this  last  head  a  very  powerful  contrast  was 
drawn  between  Holyoake  and  John  Bunyan.  The  former  pro- 
nounced a  few  months'  durance  hardly  tolerable,  and  anticipated 
the  possibility  of  losing  his  reason,  by  an  arrangement  for  commit- 
ting suicide.  Poor  John  Bunyan  sustained  an  imprisonment  of 
eleven  years  without  despair,  and  almost  without  repining.  His 
happiness  was  a  problem  which  his  honest  gaoler  could  not  under- 
stand ;  the  latter  did  not  know  that  the  genius  and  piety  of  his  cap- 
tive made  him  the  freest  man  in  all  England.  While  Bunyan's 
fingers  were  busily  employed  in  making  tags  for  the  support  of  his 
family,  his  fancy  was  bounding  along  the  narrow  path  beyond  the 
Wicket  Gate ;  feasting  itself  in  the  house  Beautiful ;  descending 
the  valley  of  Humiliation ;  vanquishing  Apollyon  ;  walking  with 
the  shepherds  on  the  Delectable  Mountains,  or  crossing  the  Black 
Kiver,  and  ascending  with  the  shining  ones  to  the  Celestial  City. 
Mr.  Grant  concluded  a  parallel,  beautifully  and  powerfully  drawn, 
by  exclaiming — '  You  may  imprison  an  Infidel,  but  you  cannot 
imprison  a  Christian  !'  The  Wednesday  lecture,  which  we  had  not 
an  opportunity  of  hearing,  related  to  the  American  '  Confessions 
and  Correspondence'  of  Mr.  J.  Barker." 

At  the  commencement  of  my  mission  I  gave  the  lecture  to  the 
working  classes,  in  connection  with  the  Congregational  Union 
meetings  at  Bradford,  for  which  occasion  I  composed  the  basis  of 
my  subsequently  celebrated  lecture  on  "  How  much  is  a  man  better 
than  a  sheep :  or,  Christianity  the  true  Secularism ;  as  the  best 
security  for  man's  rights  and  duties  in  this  life."  Aiterwards  I  gave,  by 
appointment,  an  address  to  the  Congregational  Union  on  the  relation 
of  tli3  working  classes  to  religion,  with  some  account  of  my  misson. 


75 

Chaptek  VIII. 

METHOD    OF    CONDUCTING    MY     THREE    YEARS' 

MISSION, 

With  Specimens  of  Infidel  Questions  and  Christian  Answers. 

If  a  shorthand  reporter  had  gone  round  with  me  and  taken  a 
verbatim  report  of  each  sermon  and  lecture,  and  of  the  questions 
and  answers  at  the  close  of  my  week  evening  meetings,  it  would 
have  formed  a  volume  that  would  have  paid  his  expenses  and  mine. 

I  took  notes  of  some,  and  published  them  in  "  The  Bible  and  the 
People,"  of  which  I  have,  unhappily,  not  a  complete  set  left ;  but  a 
few  specimens  from  notes  and  memory  may  be  interesting  and  useful. 

My  two  most  favourite  ''travelling  sermons"  were  on  ''The  Barrel 
of  Meal,  and  Cruise  of  Oil"  and  on  "A  Place  of  Repentance,  or 
Esau's  Birthright."  In  the  first  I  especially  dwelt  on  those  tem- 
poral straits  of  distress  and  poverty,  to  which  all  are  occasionally 
reduced ;  and  on  those  providential  deliverances  by  which,  somehow  in 
general,  we  get  through.     I  divided  the  subject  into  three  parts. 

I. — God's  Providence  for  man's  temporal  wants  and  the  necessities 
of  all  inferior  creatures,  in  that  "  barrel  of  meal  and  cruise  of  oil," — 
the  teeming  and  fertile  earth,  from  which,  out  of  the  remnants  of  the 
last  year's  growth,  on  which  the  world  could  not  live  a  month,  God 
works  this  annual  miracle  of  making  a  little  into  much. 

II. — Man's  Providence,  by  which  we,  out  of  our  poverty,  like 
that  poor  widow,  help  a  neighbour  who  is  poorer,  and  get  no  loss 
by  it.  While  the  help  being  given  to  a  prophet,  suggested  that  the 
poorest  have  the  honour  of  aiding  in  religion,  which  in  turn  takes 
their  children — like  the  prophet  with  the  widow's  child — into  an 
upper  room  and  breathes  new  life,  a  divine  life,  into  them,  in  some 
Sunday  school,  and  takes  them  back  to  their  parents,  saying — "See, 
thy  son  liveth,"  both  for  earth  and  for  heaven. 

III. — God's  Providence  for  Man's  Spiritual  Wants,  in  that 
"  cruise  of  oil  and  barrel  of  meal" — the  Bible,  which  we  cannot  empty, 
where  the  few  loaves  feed  thousands  and  there  is  still  bread  enough 
and  to  spare  for  thousands  more  : — as  a  little  fountain  by  the  road- 
side fills  some  hollow  or  trough,  at  the  bottom  of  which,  through 
the  clear  water,  we  may  perceive  a  little  sand  just  moved,  as  the 
stream  quietly  issues  from  some  inexhaustible  source ;  so  this  crystal 
fountain  is  placed  by  the  dusty  road  of  life,  and  one  and  another 
drinks  and  goes  on  refreshed,  leaving  it  full,  flowing,  pure,  and  free, 
till  the  latest  travellers  on  earth's  pilgrimage  shall  have  passed  by 
and  found  it  springing  up  into  everlasting  life. 
d2 


76 

The  other  sermon,  "  on  Esau  not  finding  a  place  of  repentance.  " 
dealt  more  directly  with  Bible  difficulties  and  religious  fears ;  those 
darker  views  of  passages,  darkened  by  words  without  knowledge, 
and  by  traditional  misapprehensions,  as  thus: — "  Many  shall  seek  to 
enter  in  and  shall  not  be  able :"  on  which  some  say  that  this  is  their 
case,  whereas  they  put  a  full  stop  in  the  wrong  place, — for  they 
shall  not  be  able, — "token  once  the  Master  of  the  House  hath  risen  up 
and  shut  to  the  door."  But  now  he  has  risen  up  and  opened  the  door 
and  no  man  can  shut  it.  Strive  to  enter  in  now,  at  the  gate  of 
salvation,  while  you  may,  for  many  will  try  in  vain  afterwards  in 
the  next  world,  when  the  opportunity  is  closed.  These  were  some 
of  the  points  in  my  second  favourite  "travelling  sermon."  I  remem- 
ber giving  it  in  Surrey  Chapel,  to  working  people,  one  Sunday 
afternoon.  At  the  close  of  the  service  the  Rev.  Newman  Hall, 
minister  of  that  chapel,  thanked  me  greatly  for  my  well-adapted 
address,  but  this  was  before  "  the  Rivulet  controversy." 

About  the  same  time,  at  the  request  of  the  London  "  Christian 
Instruction  Society,"  I  gave  a  series  of  lectures  in  the  back  slums 
of  London.  I  think  one  place  was  called  Little  Hell,  from  its 
great  ignorance  and  wickedness. 

I  remember  that  at  one  of  these  I  gave  the  lecture  on  "  How 
much  is  a  man  better  than  a  sheep  :"  when  one  very  smart  fellow 
got  up  and  told  me  that  God  "  Had  made  the  sheep  better  than 
man,  for  that  the  former  had  their  clothes  grow  on  their  backs  !" 
I  answered  that  some  men,  like  some  books,  were  bound  in  sheep- 
skin ;  but  that  it  was  very  ungrateful  to  reproach  the  Creator  for 
not  making  our  coats  grow  on  our  backs,  when  He  had  given  us 
the  capacity  of  making  our  own  clothes  after  shearing  the  sheep, 
which  we  could  also  eat  into  the  bargain. 

The  audience  agreed  with  me  that  man  had  the  best  of  it,  even 
secularly  considered  ;  as  to  chances  of  a  grand  immortality,  of  course 
there  was  no  comparison. 

One  very  clever  London  fellow  posed  me  this  way  : — "  You  said 
that  a  monkey  could  learn  tricks  till  he  could  beat  the  man  that  led 
him;  then  does  not  this  show  that  a  monkey  is  equal  to  a  man  ?"  I 
could  not  deny  the  possibility  of  such  a  case,  but  said  I,  ycu  should 
remember  that  I  told  you  the  man  taught  the  monkey  and  not  the 
monkey  the  man  ;  aid  in  this  point  of  being  original  the  nan  bore 
the  palm. 

All  these  things  were  taken  very  good-humouredly,  and  rather 
heightened  than  diminished  the  moral  and  religious  imrression, 
while  they  took  conceit  out  of  small  infidel  leaders  and  gave  good 


77 

Christian  people  confidence,  no  more  to  fear  a  jibe  which  they  could 
not  answer ;  for  as  Mr.  Robert  Stark,  secretary  to  the  Glasgow 
Young  Men's  Association  said  :— "  Thousands  of  working  men  in 
Scotland  answered  their  old  tormentors,  by  saying,  '  Aye  !  but  you 
could  na  answer  Brewin  Grant !  '  " 

These  London  audiences  were  composed  of  very  poor  people 
mariy  of  whom  came  to  shake  hands  with  me  and  thank  me,  some 
with  tears  and  devout  blessings,  as  they  left  the  rooms. 

Part  of  this  time  I  was  accompanied  by  the  Rev.  Robt.  Ashton, 
editor  of  the  Congregational  Year  Book,  at  whose  house  also  I  stayed 
a  few  nights.  He  was  then  secretary  of  the  London  "  Christian 
Instruction  Society."  Other  lecturers  were  also  engaged  to  fill  up 
the  course,  which  while  the  society  continued  was  repeated  annually. 

Professor  Godwin  was  on  the  list  of  lecturers  at  this  time,  and 
he  came  to  one  of  my  appearances  to  form  an  opinion  before-hand 
of  the  kind  of  audience  he  would  have  to  address.  He  came  to  me 
at  the  close,  expressed  his  interest  in  my  lecture,  said  he  had  come 
to  see  how  it  was  done,  and  concluded  by  saying  that  he  "  had 
watched  my  career  with  interest  and  satisfaction." 

At  the  close  of  one  of  my  lectures  in  the  provinces,  a  man  got  up 
and  asked  "  If  I  am  as  honest  as  you  are,  why  should  you  go  to 
heaven  and  me  to  hell  ?"  To  which  I  replied  that  he  began  modestly 
with  "  if,"  and  certainly  I  doubted  whether  he  was  honest,  for  if  he 
was,  he  was  the  only  one  of  his  sect  that  I  had  found  to  be  so  ; 
and  his  question  proved  that  he  was  not.  I  asked  if  any  of  the 
people  present  had  attended  a  Sunday  school,  and  I  was  met  with 
replies  of  "yes."  Then  were  you,  I  asked — "taught  in  any 
Sunday  school,  as  a  part  of  Christianity,  that  you  went  to  heaven 
for  being  honest  ?  Was  that  the  ground  of  going  to  heaven?"  "Xo," 
they  replied.  "  Then  what  was  the  ground  ?"  I  asked.  "  Through 
Jesus  Christ,  "  they  said.  Then  you  go  to  heaven  as  sinners 
forgiven  ?  "  Yes  "  was  the  answer.  "Not  as  honest  men  deserving  it, 
for  your  honesty  ?"  said  I.  "  Xo."  Yet  this  man  knowing  this  asks — 
"  Why,  if  he  were  as  honest  as  I  am,  he  should  not  go  to  heaven  as 
well  as  I ;  whereas  we  all  know  that  it  is  not  for  being  good,  but  on 
condition  of  our  confessing  and  acknowledging  that  we  are  bad,  that 
we  are  forgiven,  and  that  we  have  a  title  for  heaven  through  faith 
in  Christ."  And  that  title,  I  added,  is  open  for  him,  and  if  he  goes 
to  heaven  he  will  not  go  for  being  an  honest  man,  but  he  will  be 
an  honest  man  if  he  through  faith  in  Christ  gets  in  the  road  for 
heaven.  This  incident  gave  me  an  occasion  for  explaining  to  the 
audience  the  nature  of  the  atonement. 
d3 


78 

At  another  meeting,  an  adroit  and  sensible  question  was  put  of 
this  sort — "If  I  am  an  honest  enquirer  after  the  truth,  and  am  not 
able  to  find  it,  and  still  disbelieve  in  Christianity,  shall  I  be  lost 
for  being  an  honest  enquirer  because  I  am  unable  to  learn  the  truth  ?" 
I  complimented  the  questioner  upon  his  question,  but  I  put  it 
honestly  to  him  whether  he  was  an  honest  enquirer,  or  whether  in 
fact,  while  I  had  been  giving  my  lecture,  he  was  not  thinking  of  his 
objection  instead  of  thinking  of  my  arguments — whether  he  did  not 
say  to  himself  every  now  and  then  "  I  shall  puzzle  you  when  you 
have  done  ?"  The  man  smiled  as  if  in  acknowledgment  that  this 
was  the  fact,  and  I  said,  in  that  case  you  were  not  an  honest  enquirer 
after  the  truth,  but  you  were  holding  this  up  before  your  eyes  to  hide 
the  truth  which  I  was  stating ;  you  know  your  little  finger  will  hide 
a  mountain  if  you  only  hold  it  close  enough  to  your  eyes.  Further 
I  added,  as  a  frank  solution  of  his  question,  that  I  did  not  believe 
such  a  case  ever  really  would  happen ;  that  there  might  possibly  be 
honest  infidels— I  did  not  say  there  were  not — but  whoever  icas  an 
honest  enquirer  after  the  truth  would  be  permitted  to  see  the  truth, 
as  sure  as  he  was  an  honest  enquirer ;  and  if  my  questioner  was 
an  honest  enquirer  himself,  he  would  yet  become  an  earnest  believer 
in  Christ,  for  "  he  that  seeketh,  findeth." 

Balaam's  ass  is  a  favourite  topic  with  some  of  the  objectors  to 
the  Bible.  On  one  occasion,  in  the  theatre  at  Sheffield,  a  gentle- 
man from  among  the  "gods"  put  out  his  head  and  enquired  what 
I  thought  about  the  Bible  saying  that  Balaam's  ass  spoke  ?  Several 
other  persons  also  made  objections,  which  I  took  in  the  reverse 
order,  beginning  with  the  last.  My  questioner  in  the  gallery  evi- 
dently felt  his  dignity  hurt,  and  he  called  out  eagerly  that  I  had  not 
answered  him.  I  replied,  "I  reserve  you  for  the  last — a  good  one 
for  the  last,  you  know."  When  his  turn  came,  I  said  to  him,  "Now 
what  is  your  question  ?"  He  answered,  "Does  Mr.  Grant  believe , 
that  Balaam's  ass  spoke?"  I  replied  pointedly  to  him,  "Why 
shouldn't  I  ?  It  might  have  been  a  miracle  in  those  times  ;  but  it  is 
a  very  common  thing  now-a-days." 

Another  gentleman  observed  to  me  in  the  street,  "  Mr.  Grant, 
I  am  told  you  say  I  am  as  stupid  as  Balaam's  ass."  I  said,  "  No, 
I  did  not  say  that."  "  Well,"  said  he,  "I  thought  you  would  not 
say  such  a  thing  of  me."  "  No,"  I  replied,  "  I  would  not  mention 
you  and  Balaam's  ass  in  the  same  day.  Do  you  know  why  ?  " 
"  No,"  said  he,  feeling  rather  relieved,  but  scarcely  flattered. 
"  Well,"  said  I,  "  the  miracle  was  not  that  Balaam's  ass  spoke,  but 
that  ass  spoke  sense,  which  makes  all  the  difference  in  the  world."    , 


79 

Speaking  of  Balaam's  ass  reminds  me  by  contrast  of  Mr.  Robert 
Cooper,  then  a  very  great  card  among  the  Free-thinking  brethren.  He 
wrote  "  The  Infidel's  Text  Book,"  which  served  as  the  basis  for  a 
very  good  lecture.  This  learned  Theban  found  St.  Paul  out  in  a 
contradiction,  for  the  apostle  said  in  one  place  that  he  was  a  Phari- 
see, and  in  another  that  he  was  a  Roman  :  "  such,"  exclaimed  this 
logician,  "  is  the  consistency  of  Paul ! "  On  which  it  was  observed, 
"I  heard  Grant  once  say  that  he  was  an  Independent,  and  at 
another  time  that  he  was  an  Englishman  !  "  Such  is  the  stupidity 
of  the  Infidel's  Text  Book  scribe.  When  I  was  lecturing  on  this 
book  in  Newcastle-on-Tyne  I  unconsciously  gave  some  expressions 
of  contempt — as  "  ach  !  " — when  reading  this  gentleman's  quotation 
of  an  insult  on  the  Redeemer,  and  on  the  working  classes — as  "  only 
the  son  of  a  carpenter  : "  and  to  my  "  ach, "  a  person  in  the  audi- 
ence responded  in  mockery;  whereupon  I  enquired,  "  Don't  you 
know  that  it  is  only  a  hollow  place  that  makes  an  echo?"  The 
ship  carpenters  saw  it  and  broke  out. 

The  next  best  there,  was  that  a  person  having  rather  vehemently 
abused  me,  the  audience  cried  out  to  stop  him.  I  begged  them  to 
"let  him  go  on,  as  I  always  liked  people  to  see  what  was  inside 
these  men."  On  this  he  apologized  in  this  fashion  :  he  was  only 
retaliating,  as  I  had  "  called  him  a  fool  the  night  before."  This 
was  denied  by  the  audience  ;  and  I  observed  that  I  generally  spoke 
English,  but  "  did  not  remember  calling  the  gentleman  by  that 
name  :  besides,"  I  added,   "  it  was  so  perfectly  unnecessary."     At 

the  same  place  a  curious  scene  occurred.     One  Mr.  J.  C ,  the 

secretary  of  the  Secular  Society,  whom  on  a  previous  evening  I  had 
complimented  as  an  apparently  honest  enquirer,  came  forward  to 
reply  to  my  lecture  on  Cooper's  Infidel  Text  Book,  in  which  I  had 
pointed  out  the  author's  blunder  in  talking  of  Professor  Somebody's 
"admirable    iwcdilections ,"    and    made    merry    with   his   learned 

pedantry.     Mr.  J.  C came  forward  with  great  gravity  to  the 

front  of  the  platform,  and  described  my  whole  lecture  as  founded  on 
the  criticism  of  a  word  which,  said  he,  was  a  printer's  mistake,  for 
that  he  had  a  later  edition  in  which  "  predilections"  did  not  occur; 
and  he  read  the  passage  as  amended :  however,  he  did  not  put  in 
"prelections"  for  "  predilections,"  but  simply  omitted  that  part  of 
the  sentence.  I  quietly  asked  him  to  favour  me  -with  a  sight  of  his 
later  edition,  and  begged  him  to  go  on  with  his  speech  while  I 
glanced  at  the  amended  page.  He  did  so,  concluding  with  remind- 
ing the  audience  that  my  lecture  was  only  a  joke  on  a  misprint 
which  had  been  corrected.     As  he  passed  by  me  to  leave  the  plat- 


80 

form,  1  (still  seated  by  the  table)  directed  his  attention  to  the 
passage  he  had  read,  saying  quietly, — "  Do  you  see  this  ?"  He 
stooped  towards  me  and  seemed  rather  blind,  saying, — "  What  ?M 
I  said, — "  Do  you  see  it?"  The  audience  perceiving  this  panto- 
mime, began  to  call  out  for  some  explanation.  I  told  him  in  a  very 
low  voice  to  go  back  and  tell  the  people  that  the  word  I  had  quoted 
was  in  his  book  as  well  as  in  mine.  He  was  in  a  fix,  but  obliged  to 
obey  ;  and  advancing  said  : — "  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  it-it-is  here." 
The  effect  may  be  imagined.  I  simply  told  the  people  that  from 
this  incident  they  must  learn  to  believe  me  "  to  the  very  syllable," 
•whatever  their  "  predilections"  might  be  :  though  I  acknowledged 
to  one  mistake  in  believing  and  saying  the  night  before  that  the 
gentleman  who  had  just  retired  was  an  honest  enquirer. 

The  conceited  author  of  this  "  Infidel  Text  Book"  was  lecturing 
in  Blackburn  one  night  on  my  arrival  there  ;  and  contrary  to  my 
custom — not  to  give  interest  to  infidel  meetings  by  my  presence,  to 
relieve  the  dull  monotony  of  their  lecture  by  importing  foreign  wit, 
or  the  interest  of  an  important  visitor — I  went  in  to  see  the  affair, 
and  should  have  come  out  without  speaking,  but  the  chairman 
having  been  told  of  my  presence  graciously  invited  me  to  reply. 
Mr.  Cooper  said  it  was  scarcely  fair  to  mention  me  personally  if  I 
did  not  intend  presenting  myself  before  the  audience.  I  accepted 
both  the  invitation  and  the  apology  ;  and  having  spoiled  his  lecture 
invited  him  to  try  and  answer  mine  the  following  evening,  on  his 
"  Text  Book"  in  Park  school-room,  when  I  engaged  to  prove  that  a 
greater  numbskull  never  wrote,  and  that  no  author  ever  told  more — 
of  both  sorts — black  and  white  ones, — in  the  same  space  except 
Mr.  J.  B.  Mr.  Cooper  did  not  accept  the  offer,  and  I  told  his 
audience  that  he  "  was  wise,"  but  that  I  knew  they  would  all  come  ; 
that  they  could  not  help  it ;  that  they  would  also  be  obliged  to 
believe  me  and  never  would  believe  him  any  more.  The  large  Park 
school  was  crowded,  and  I  put  this  proposition  to  the  vote, — "  That 
nobody  could  hereafter  pretend  to  believe  '  the  Infidel's  Text  Book,' 
and  that  its  author  was  no  more  blessed  with  courage  than  with 
truth." 

I  could  not  get  one  to  hold  up  his  hand  against  the  proposition  ; 
so  it  was  carried  unanimously,  in  an  audience  composed  almost 
exclusively  of  working  men. 


81 

Chapter  IX. 

DISCUSSION  WITH  MR.  GEORGE  JACOB  HOLYOAKE, 

IX  COWPER-STREET,  LONDON,  1852. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  socialistic  agitation  headed  by  Mr. 
RoBEEr  Owen,  some  of  his  disciples  or  agents  started  in  other  lines 
of  infidel  advocacy ;  the  chief  of  them  was  Mr.  G.  J.  Holyoake, 
who  pressed  the  war  with  great  vigour  and  adroitness.  Like  that 
saint  who  "  shone  in  the  dark,"  this  gentleman  managed,  among  the 
lot  with  which  he  associated,  to  be  distinguished  for  comparative 
gentleness  and  a  tearful  solicitude  to  find  out  the  truth.  He  sus- 
tained this  character  very  well  at  times,  and  was  quite  a  card  on 
show  days  :  extremely  polite  where  he  could  not  be  advantageously 
insolent,  and  "tame"  when  it  was  unadvisable  to  be  "  rancorous." 
Among  the  more  fastidious  friends  of  free  theology  who  combined 
the  respectability  of  religion  with  the  luxury  of  a  "  little  latitude," 
Mr.  Holyoake  was  "  the  pet  of  the  whole  brigade."  He  could 
sneer  at  a  parson  and  jeer  at  the  Saviour,  and  mock  the  saints ; 
but  then,  like  Uriah  Heep,  he  was  "  a  numble  individual "  who 
would  gladly  believe,  if  the  Almighty  would  not  persecute  him  into 
it  by  pains  and  penalties  which  infringed  on  his  liberty  as  an  "eclec- 
tic" philosopher.  He  was  a  great  hand  at  being  persecuted,  but 
he  considered  that  to  be  criticised  was  a  greater  injury  than  to  be 
imprisoned  ;  and  he  made  a  market  out  of  both.  As  for  his  impri- 
sonment— for  such  sayings,  as"  I  flee  the  Bible  as  a  viper,"  "Revolt 
at  the  touch  of  a  Christian,"  and  "  Don't  believe  there  is  such  a 
thing  as  a  God" — he  willingly  brought  it  on;  since  when  it  was 
explained  in  court  that  he  simply  meant  that  parsons  were  too 
expensive,  he  was  told  that  if  he  did  not  mean  to  insult  the  Creator, 
but  only  to  reproach  the  clergy,  he  might  escape. 

On  this  point  I  demonstrated  in  numerous  meetings,  in  a  lecture 
on  his  book,  "The  Last  Trial  by  Jury  for  Atheism,"  that  "he 
willingly  put  his  neck  into  a  noose,  and  refused  to  take  it  out  when 
the  judge  told  him  how."  This  was  a  famous  proposition  of  mine, 
which  I  maintained  against  all  comers  in  hundreds  of  meetings, 
which  spoiled  the  market  of  "  carrying  that  scar  about"  to  gain  sym- 
pathetic coppers.  Besides  his  imprisonment  for  a  time,  which  was 
a  mistake  on  the  part  of  those  who  prosecuted,  his  great  misfortune 
was  to  be  criticised :  he  liked  to  jibe  at  a  good,  dull  soul,  and  was 
quite  merry  over  a  serious  Christian  ;  but  if  ever  he  fell  in  with  one 
who  was  as  sceptical  of  the  sceptics  as  they  professed  to  be  about 
Christianity,  and  who  knew  more   of  them  than  they  did  of  it,  he 


82 

took  a  serious  turn,  and  was  shocked  at  this  irreverent  treatment  of 
an  anxious  enquirer.  The  disaster  of  his  life  and  the  termination 
of  his  secular  career  was  the  permission  to  his  admirers  to  invite  me 
to  discuss  with  him.  He  had  already  published  his  admiration  of 
me  as  a  model  parson,  liberal,  fair,  and  rational  in  the  pulpit ;  more 
than  just,  even  generous  to  infidels,  in  the  press  ;  and  in  an  evil 
hour : — expecting  me  to  be  as  gentle  as  I  was  simple,  if  not  softer  than 
I  looked,  ready  to  abandon  Christianity  as  a  compliment  to  liberality, 
or  at  any  rate  to  aid  in  erecting  a  half-way  house ; — taking  it  for 
granted  that  geniality  was  next  door  to  infidelity,  and  that  a  man 
who  could  laugh,  would  not  stand  up  stiffly  for  am^thing  solid  and 
solemn,  the  party  was  induced  to  challenge  me  to  discussion.  It  is 
but  fair  to  say  that  Mr.  Holyoake  altered  his  opinion  of  me  during 
the  discussion,  and  not  only  repudiated  all  his  former  names  and  sen- 
timents, but  retracted  his  recommendation  of  my  spirit  and  writings, 
which  he  intimated  were  nearly  as  bad  as  his  own.  He  could  quote, 
he  said,  many  illustrative  passages,  but  would  not  stoop  to 
it.  So  I  reminded  him  of  his  former  laudations  in  these  words : — 
"  However  any  may  dislike  these  assertions,  every  one  must  admit 
that  I  have  given  plenty  of  proofs — that  I  can  prove  what  I  say  to 
the  minutest  particular.  Mr.  Holyoake  never  quotes  a  passage  I 
refer  to,  to  prove  me  wrong ;  he  has  not  done  so  all  through  the 
discussion.  The  statement  that  he  had  praised  The  Bible  and  the 
People  more  than  any  one,  he  did  not  meet  by  reading  his  notice  : 
that  would  have  doubly  confounded  him.  In  his  Cabinet  of  Reason, 
"Why  do  the  clergy  avoid  discussion  ?"  a  title  to  make  one  merry, 
he  says, — 'I  am  bound  to  say  the  Rev.  Brewin  Grant,  of  Birmingham, 
is  an  instance  (of  exceptionable  liberality.)  I  have  heard  him  read 
one  of  our  books  from  the  pulpit.  The  Bible  and  the  People,  edited 
by  him,  gives  the  freest  insertion  to  opposing  views,  and  has  in 
some  instances  uttered  generous  words  of  the  writers.'  (Vol.  ii., 
pp.  26,  27).  In  his  Reasoner,  vol.  xii.,  No.  24,  Mr.  Holyoake  says 
of  my  review  of  his  Trial  for  Atheism, —  'The  same  monthly  (The 
Bible  and  the  People)  contains  careful  reviews  of  this  work,  by  a 
writer  who  is  more  than  impartial — he  is  generous.  Another  number 
contains  entire  '  The  last  days  of  Mrs.  Emma  Martin,'  with  critical 
remarks  by  the  editor,  we  suppose,  as  in  the  former  case.  The 
remarks  commence  by  the  admission  that  '  death  and  sorrow  are 
sacred,'  which  the  critic  does  not  violate  in  spirit.  Some  reply 
seems  due  from  us,  which  we  hope  to  be  able  to  write.'  This  has 
not  happened  yet,  though  the  article  he  thus  praises  is  printed  as  a 
twopenny  'Finger  Post,'  by  Ward  and  Co.     'We  have  placed  The 


83 

Bible  and  the  People,'  he  says,  'among  our  weekly  list  of  literature 
for  the  people.  It  appears  as  a  monthly,  edited,  we  believe,  by  the 
Rev.  Brewin  Grant,  B.  A. ,  of  Birmingham.  Judging  from  the  contents 
of  the  first  sixteen  numbers,  it  is  the  best  of  the  controversial  pub- 
lications devoted  to  the  maintenance  of  evangelical  principles.  Our 
readers  will  find  it  well  worthy  of  their  perusal.  Its  tone  is  superior 
to  anything  we  have  encountered  in  the  same  Christian  school.  The 
numbers,  as  far  as  we  have  examined  them,  are  critical,  as  well  as 
instructive.'  " 

The  secular  invitation  to  me  to  discuss  was  given  June  16th,  1852. 
The  debate  occurred  on  six  successive  Thursday  evenings,  com- 
mencing January  20th,  and  ending  February  24th,  1853." 

"  The  Publisher's  Preface"  to  the  Cowper-street  discussion  says : 
— "  on«  of  Mr.  Holyoake's  friends  wrote  (June  16,  1852,)  to  Mr. 
Grant,  saying  '  The  friends  with  whom  I  act  would  like  to  bring 
Mr.  H.  in  contact  with  some  one  of  acknowledged  ability,  so  that 
we  might  have  a  foot  to  foot  encounter.  It  occurs  to  us  that  you 
are  a  fit  and  proper  person  to  engage  in  such  a  discussion,  and  if 
you  would  do  so  in  this  town  (Leicester),  we  would  do  all  in  our 
power  to  expedite  the  arrangements.' 

"  To  this  Mr.  Grant  replied  a  fortnight  afterwards  : — '  I  should 
prefer  discussing  the  value  as  well  as  the  truth  of  Mr.  Holyoake's 
whole  mission,  in  some  such  theme  as  the  following: — ""What 
would  be  gained  by  mankind  in  general,  and  the  working-classes  in 
particular,  as  to  this  life,  by  the  removal  of  Christianity  and  the 
substitution  of  Atheism  in  its  place  '?  in  other  words,  wherein  con- 
sists the  superiority  of  the  Atheist's  Gospel  over  the  Gospel  of 
Jesus  Christ."  ' 

"  This  letter  being  forwarded  to  Mr.  Holyoake,  he  replied  to  the 
writer  of  it,  July  16 : — '  The  first  proposition  you  name  as  the 
subject  of  our  debate,  strikes  me  upon  the  first  reading  as  a  useful 
one  with  the  change  of  one  word  (Secularism  for  Atheism).  The 
proposition  would  then  stand  as  follows  : — "  ^Yhat  would  be  gained 

•  Mr.  Reed,  an  admirable  reporter,  took  down  this  debate,  and  it  was  revised 
by  the  ci-putants  and  published  by  their  mutual  consent.  Some  ten  thousand 
copies  were  sold.  I  was  so  well  satisfied  with  Mr.  Reed's  accuracy  that  I  secured 
his  engagement  for  two  subsequent  debates,  one  of  six  nights,  in  Glasgow  City 
Hall,  with  Mr.  Holyoake  ;  and  the  other  often  nights,  in  Halifax,  on  the  Bible, 
with  Mr.  Joseph  Barker.  I  hope  some  time,  when  sufficiently  encouraged,  to 
select,  condense,  and  re-arrange,  from  these  and  other  reports,  the  permanent, 
useful  matter  contained  in  them  for  the  perusal  of  enquiring  and  thoughtful  peo- 
ple ;  and  am  convinced  that  few  works  would  be  more  advantageous  to  the  public. 
I  once  thought  of  doing  this  under  the  title  of  "  A  Hand-book  to  the  Bible." 


84 

by  mankind  in  general  and  the  working  classes  in  particular,  as  to 
this  life,  by  the  removal  of  Christianity  and  substituting  Secularism 
in  its  place."  By  Secularism  is  meant  giving  the  precedence  to  the 
duties  of  this  life  over  those  which  pertain  to  another  world.  The 
leading  points  with  respect  to  Secularism  that  I  undertake  to  ex- 
plain are : — 

1.  "That  attention  to  temporal  things  should  take  precedence 
of  considerations  relating  to  a  future  existence." 

2.  "  That  science  is  the  providence  of  life,  and  that  spiritual 
dependence  in  human  affairs  may  lead  to  material  destruction." 

3.  That  there  exist  (independently  of  scriptural  religion)  gua- 
rantees of  morality  in  human  nature,  in  intelligence  and  utility."  ' 

"  Mr.  Holyoake  nominated  as  his  committee  Messrs.  James 
Watson,  Richard  Moore,  Austin  J.  Holyoake,  and  the  Rev.  Ebenezer 
Syme,  (Unitarian.) 

"Mr.  Grant's  committee  were  the  Revds.  J.  Campbell,  D.D., 
Robert  Ashton,  and  Messrs.  Samuel  Morley,  Samuel  Priestley,  and 
J.  S.  Crisp  (of  Ward  and  Co.) 

"  The  Rev.  Ebenezer  Syme  acted  as  chairman  for  Mr.  Holyoake, 
and  Mr.  Samuel  Morley  for  Mr.  Grant ;  the  Rev.  Howard  Hinton 
being  nominated  as  umpire. 

"  The  proof  sheets  of  this  report  have  been  read  by  both  dispu- 
tants and  the  report  is  published  with  their  joint  consent. 

"  27,  Paternoster-row,  April,  1853." 

The  preliminary  correspondence  forced  Mr.  Holyoake  to  lower 
his  flag  in  his  first  speech,  and  the  criticisms  on  his  vague  "  bene- 
fits" of  Secularism,  forced  him  to  repudiate  the  subject  of  debate  as 
early  as  the  second  evening.  The  rest  of  his  time  was  taken  up 
mainly  with  appeals  for  pity,  and  attempts  to  fasten  a  charge  of 
great  wickedness  on  his  opponent,  for  the  sin  of  free  criticism. 
He  evidently  repented  before  he  began,  and  for  all  the  impudent 
boasts  and  challenges  with  which  he  and  his  party  had  pestered  and 
insulted  the  clergy  and  the  ministers  all  over  the  country,  he 
assumed  the  most  modest,  humble,  and  servile  tone,  to  gain  a  pitiful 
sympathy  as  his  shield  in  an  encounter  that  he  had  invoked  and 
dreaded. 

He  abandoned  and  repudiated  all  his  old  words  and  methods  in 
his  first  speech,  saying,  "The  secularist  applied  himself  to  the 
re-inspection  of  the  general  field  of  controversy,  and  the  result  was, 
the  adoption  of  the  following  rules : — '  First,  to  disuse  the  term 
atheist;'  second,  to  disuse  the  term  infidel;'  third,  to  recognize 
—(for  the  first  time)  not  (!)  as  a  matter  of  policy  (!)  merely,  but  as 


85 

a  matter  of  fad — the  sincerity  of  the  clergy,  and  the  good  intentions 
of  Christians  generally."  This  was  whitewashing  for  the  occasion. 
Only  think  of  those  Jesuitical  words  : — "  to  recognize  not  as  a  matter 
of  policy  merely  but  as  a  matter  of  fact!" 

This  was  from  the  most  atrociously  abusive  writer  that  ever 
maligned  the  Christian  world,  and  who  got  a  testimonial  from  the 
Christian  Spectator,  a  dissenting  organ  of  congenial  "liberality"  in 
abuse. 

Besides  this  "  re-inspection"  of  old  titles  and  accusations,  to 
start  with  a  new  character,  the  entire  former  method  of  action  was 
ignored  and  the  "  doctrine  of  reserve"  was  openly  advocated.  "  We 
believe  in  relative  truth  and  discretionary  silence."  "  We  say  '  dis- 
cretionary silence,'  because  publicity  without  discretion  involves  pre- 
mature utterances  ;  instead  of  always  serving,  it  sometimes  endangers 
truth."  That  is,  it  does  not  do  to  let  out  too  much  !  "To  keep  the 
truth  back  when  it  can  be  serviceable,  is  indeed  a  serious  fault ;  yet 
to  suffer  it  to  be  dragged  forward  to  be  destroyed  is  to  betray  the 
truth."  Now  why  it  should  be  "  destroyed"  by  being  "  dragged 
forward"  is  very  curious,  and  my  work  in  that  and  subsequent  dis- 
cussions was  to  "  drag  forward"  what  he  tried  to  veil  in  a  "  discre- 
tionary silence."  "  He  who  without  conditions  {i.e.  suppressions), 
exposes  truth  to  unwilling  ears  and  prejudiced  minds  who  seek  its 
destruction,  may  be  guilty  of  the  murder  of  truth ."  So  he  took  to  a 
"  mask"  which  I  pulled  off,  and  he  screamed  fearfully.  For  he 
began  by  Baying  : — "  We  claim  the  right  of  discretionary  silence, — 
of  profiting  by  our  experience,  and  choosing  when  we  will  speak,  to 
whom  we  will  speak,  and, — out  of  all  the  truth  we  think  we  have 
mastered, — how  much  we  will  speak."  This  included  "  how  much" 
it  might  be  "  discretionary"  to  suppress.  But  I  had  tracked  them  all 
through,  like  a  detective  and  "murdered"  their  "  truth"  by  "  drag- 
ging it  forward"  into  daylight. 

This  he  anticipated,  saying: — "No  sooner  did  we  betake  our- 
selves to  the  more  practical  part  of  our  advocacy  than  '  a  Mission' 
was  bespoken  against  us."  This  was  his  horror,  and  he  wisely  but 
ineffectually  all  through  endeavoured  to  convince  the  patrons  of 
"  the  Mission"  that  General  Grant  was  the  worst  man  they  could 
employ.  My  opening  speech  indicated  the  spirit  in  which  I  con- 
sidered such  questions  should  be  treated ;  the  knowledge  of  the 
adversary's  course,  which  his  "  discretionary  silence"  was  not  per- 
mitted to  conceal,  and  the  anticipation  of  that  natural  revenge  that 
would  be  excited,  as  against  "  epithets,"  by  any  just  criticism  of 
these  pretenders  to  truthful  free  enquiry.     I  still  agree  with  every 


86 

word  of  the  following,  and  consider  it  useful  and  applicable  to  all 
times  : — 

"It  is  impossible  for  me  to  convey  an  adequate  idea  of  the  heavy 
weight  of  responsibility  under  which  I  commence,  and  with  which  I 
have  anticipated  this  discussion,  knowing  as  I  do,  that  whatever 
others  may  say  against  our  responsibility  for  belief,  we  cannot  escape 
the  consequences  of  our  actions,  and  of  those  dispositions  and  opinions 
in  which  actions  originate  ;  believing,  as  I  do,  that  if  there  be  any 
human  duty,  this  is  the  first  and  foremost,  to  seek  the  truth  honestly, 
to  inquire  with  fairness,  and  search  with  scrupulous  conscientiousness. 
Whatever  may  be  the  carelessness  with  which  we  write  or  speak  on 
other  occasions,  when  we  presume  to  guide  or  oppose  others  on 
important  questions,  there  is  a  grave  responsibility  resting  on  speaker 
and  hearer.     When  I  consider  the  many  readers  who  may  ponder 
the  words  uttered,  if  there  be  any  justice  or  injustice,  if  a  man  may 
benefit  or  injure  another,  if  there  be  any  social  duty,  there  is  no 
more  sacred  obligation  than  to  refrain  from  misleading,  and  to  do  all 
in  our  power  towards  helping  men  in  those  things  in  which  we  may 
do  them  the  most  harm  or  the  most  good.     My  anxiety  is  not  on 
this  occasion  lest  Christianity  should  be  overthrown,  that  is  settled 
in  my  own  mind  as  an  impossibility ;  I  am  anxious  only  that  my 
fellow-men  should  not  be  misled  into  the  rejection  of  that  which  I 
believe  is  for  their  benefit,  the  truth  of  which  is  not  at  all  interfered 
with  by  their  acceptance  or  rejection  of  it,  but  the  acceptableness  of 
which  may  be  interfered  with  by  the  imperfections  of  its  professors, 
and  by  the  unskilfulness  of  its  defenders.     The  proper  and  best 
defence  of  Christianity  is,  that  it  be  understood — as  the  best  refuta- 
tion of  infidelity  is  an  exposition  of  it,  which,  if  truly  done,  amounts 
to  an  exposure.     My  main  object,  therefore,  will  not  be  so  much  to 
defend  Christianity  as  to  show  you  how  often  it  has  been  misre- 
presented, and  especially  to  show  that  Secularism   is  not   worth 
having,  whether  Christianity  be  continued  or  not,  and  that  therefore 
no  "  benefits"  can  come  from  its  introduction.    It  is  enough  to  show 
this ;  and  if  in  doing  so  I  advance  opinions  for  which  secularists  are 
not  prepared,  they  have  to  consider  two  things  ;  first,  that  I  have 
carefully  read  and  marked  every  page  that  has  issued  from  the 
JReasoner  office,  and  therefore  may  be  presumed  to  know  as  well  as 
any  one,  the  proceedings  and  writings  of  that  section  of  infidels.    Nor 
is  any  original  lecturer  on  Socialism  better  acquainted  with  the 
opinions  of  Robert  Owen,  from  which  Secularism  sprung,  than  I  am, 
and  have  been  for  the  space  of  twelve  }Tears.     Some  opinions  may 
therefore  be  advanced  which,  to  those  who  look  only  at  modified 


87 

sentiments  and  statements,  may  seem  extreme  and  unjust,  but  may 
still  be  very  well  maintained  by  unquestionable  facts.  Secondly, 
any  who  are  surprised  at  some  assertions,  are  requested  also  to 
consider  the  possibility  of  my  being  able,  after  a  consideration  as 
extensive  as  they  who  believe  in  Secularism  have  given  to  the  subject, 
to  give  a  conscientious  and  intelligent  opinion  as  to  my  conclusion 
on  the  matter.  If  I  employ  any  epithets,  let  them  not  be  taken  as 
a  reason  for  not  examining  whether  the  epithets  are  not  just  con- 
clusions from  previous  arguments.  Nor  let  it  be  set  down  as  bigotry 
or  personality,  if  I  do  not  take  the  cheap  professions  of  any  men  as 
to  their  justice  or  liberality,  but  proceed  at  once  to  disprove  their 
pretensions.  We  make  a  grave  mistake  when,  respecting  matters 
of  opinion,  we  speak  of  toleration  or  charity.  We  owe  all  men  the 
justice  (not  the  charity  or  toleration)  of  conceding  all  the  liberty  we 
demand  for  ourselves,  according  to  the  golden  rule  of  Christianity, — 
which  need  not  be  '  removed'  to  secure  freedom, — '  Whatsoever  ye 
would  that  men  should  do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them.'  If  this  be 
immoral  or  illiberal,  it  is  my  adopted  rule  of  morality,  and  standard 
of  rational  freedom.  But  as  to  opinions  themselves,  if  false  we  are 
to  oppose  them  ;  they  have  no  claim  to  charity,  and  justice  consists 
in  removing  them  by  all  reasonable  means  ;  whilst  in  relation  to 
individuals  we  are  to  pursue  a  course  of  impartial  justice.  It  is  not 
illiberal  to  prove  that  some  teachers  are  deceivers.  It  is  bigotry  to 
charge  men  with  faults  without  proof:  it  is  justice  towards  the 
leaders  of  opinion,  it  is  justice  and  kindness  combined  towards  their 
followers,  to  unmask  whatever  is  deceptive  ;  for  they  cannot  be 
truly  the  friends  of  any  man,  least  of  all  the  friends  of  truth,  who 
are  not  the  friends  of  honesty." 

"These  remarks  being  general  and  applicable  to  both  sides,  will 
we  hope,  be  satisfactory  to  those  whose  opinions  we  shall  call  in 
question.  We  hope  to  say  nothing  about  either  the  advocates  of 
infidelity  or  any  other  system  that  we  shall  not  be  able  to  make 
good  ;  and  all  that  is  asked  of  those  who  differ  from  us  is, — to 
consider,  not  whether  they  like  what  we  say,  but  whether  it  is  true." 

The  close,  logical,  unsparing  criticism  with  which  I  exposed  the 
secular  proposals  of  "  preferring  the  duties  of  this  life  to  those  of 
another," — when  first,  the  duties  are  identical,  and  we  are  not  in 
another  life  yet,  and  secondly  when  another  life  is  denied,  under  the 
cloak  of  preferring  this,  and  "service  to  humanity"  recommended,  to 
cover  a  denial  of  Divinity  and  to  withdraw  from  the  service  of  God  ; 
and  a  care  for  the  body  recommended,  as  a  veil  to  hide  the  neglect 
of  the  soul ;   and  the  immoral  and  absurd  position  of  preferring  this 


88 

life  to  another,  if  there  be  another ;  and  the  hypocrisy  of  the  talk  of 
this  preference,  by  those  who  believe  only. in  one: — all  this  cruel 
ratiocination  and  persecuting  criticism  quite  disturbed  the  placid 
conceit  of  the  infidel  party  which  had  altered  its  name  to  conceal 
its  principles. 

Pressed  by  these  arguments,  Mr.  Holyoake  screamed  at  epithets 
and  retracted  the  proposition  which  he  so  cheerfully  accepted  ! 

Thus,  in  his  second  speech  on  the  second  evening,  Mr.  Holyoake, 
after  saying,  as  was  his  custom  whenever  he  felt  that  even  his  own 
party  would  feel  the  logical  force  of  his  opponent's  statements, — - 
"  If  this  is  the  kind  of  opposition  to  which  our  views  are  to  be  sub- 
jected, I  see  no  objection  to  it,"  he  added, — "First,  however,  I  ought 
perhaps  on  this  night  to  make  an  announcement.  In  our  last  night's 
debate  we  were  several  times  told  that  I  proposed  to  remove  Chris- 
tianity and  substitute  Secularism  in  its  place.  These  were  the 
words  of  the  general  proposition  which  was  read  from  the  chair ; 
but  that  proposition  was  of  Mr.  Grant's  own  writing,  and  the  extra- 
vagant element  in  it  was  of  his  own  invention.  Why  I  accepted  the 
proposition  Mr.  Grant  drew  up  was  this, — that  he  told  me  it  meant 
in  other  words,  '  Wherein  consists  the  superiority  of  our  gospel 
over  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  ?'  This  is  a  reasonable  enquiry ; 
but  the  words  '  removal  of  Christianity  and  the  substitution  of 
Secularism'  are  words  which  he  has  put  into  my  mouth,  and  for  the 
extravagance  of  which  I  did  not  foresee  that  he  intended  to  make 
me  responsible."     (p.  60-1  Cowper-street  Discussion.) 

This  adroit  retirement  from  the  proposition  which  he  had  come 
to  maintain,  and  the  insinuation  that  it  was  not  what  he  willingly 
adopted  after  mending  it  to  suit  his  taste,  called  up  Mr.  Morley, 
who  was  my  chairman,  and  who  at  the  close  of  Mr.  Holyoake's 
speech  is  thus  reported  : — 

"  I  am  anxious  for  one  minute  to  set  myself  right  with  Mr.  Holy- 
oake. I  was  a  party,  as  one  of  the  chairmen,  last  week,  to  the 
reading  of  the  following  sentence — it  was  read  by  Mr.  Syme,  Mr. 
Holyoake's  chairman: — 'What  advantages  would  accrue  to  mankind 
generally,  and  the  working  classes  in  particular,  by  the  removal  of 
Christianity  and  the  substitution  of  Secularism  in  its  place.'  Now, 
on  my  honour,  I  would  be  no  party,  if  I  knew  it,  to  any  proceeding 
in  connection  with  this  discussion  that  was  not  perfectly  fair  and 
perfectly  straightforward.  I  understood  Mr.  Holyoake  to  say  that 
this  sentence  is  Mr.  Grant's,  and  not  his.  Now  I  was  present  at  a 
meeting  at  which  Mr.  Syme  (Mr.  Holyoake's  chairman),  and  Mr. 
Holyoake's  brother,  were  present,  and  I  distinctly  understood  that 


89 

the  phrase  as  it  was  read  was  adopted  by  Mr.  Holyoake.  I  wish  to 
have  that  made  perfectly  straight  and  clear ;  otherwise  I  have  been 
a  party  to  misrepresentation.  I  beg  to  insist  on  an  answer  to  this. 
Mr.  Holyoake's  brother  will  do  me  the  justice  to  say  whether  I  am 
right  or  wrong  in  what  I  have  said." 

11  Mr.  Holyoake  : — It  is  my  place  to  answer  the  question.  I 
accepted  the  proposition.  I  said  so  in  the  words  I  used.  I  said, 
*  Why  I  accepted  the  proposition  Mr.  Grant  drew  up  was  because  he 
told  me  it  meant  in  other  words,  wherein  consists  the  superiority  of 
our  gospel,  or  views,  over  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.'  I  thought  it 
was  in  that  sense  that  he  would  use  them,  and  that  he  would  not 
make  me  responsible  for  the  extravagant  element  in  them — that  of 
wishing  to  remove  the  whole  of  Christianity." 

"  Mr.  Moeley: — I  am  bound  to  say  I  recognise  these  words  as 
having  been  used  by  Mr.  Holyoake — I  say  it  frankly.  But  the 
impression  surely  teas  that  the  proposition  was  Mr.  Grant's,  and  that 
there  had  not  been  a  clear  understanding." 

M  Mr.  Gkant  : — Mr.  Chairman,  I  quite  understand  the  nature  of 
Mr.  Holyoake's  indirect  disavowal  and  direct  avowal  of  the  statement 
that  he  has  come  this  evening  to  discuss.  It  would  have  been  very 
much  better  if  he  had  plainly  made  any  opposition  to  it  when  we 
discussed  it  in  letters  beforehand.  However,  I  need  say  nothing 
upon  that  subject,  but  simply  tell  you  that  as  Mr.  Holyoake  agreed 
that  the  correspondence  should  be  the  preface  to  this  discussion,  you 
will  quite  understand  the  whole  of  that  question.  I  think  in 
nearly  every  speech  Mr.  Holyoake  has  commenced  by  saying — If 
this  is  the  sort  of  opposition  we  are  to  have,  we  need  not  fear  much. 
Invariably  he  has  commenced  with  some  disparaging  observations 
of  that  kind.  He  does  not  now  propose  to  '  remove  Christianity,' 
and  if  he  did,  he  could  not  remove  it.  The  proposition  which 
he  calls  my  extravagance,  he  was  extravagant  enough  to  adopt, 
and  not  wise  enough  to  complain  of  it  till  now  that  he  cannot 
maintain  it." 

Mr.  Holyoake,  who  had  been  petted,  and  toadied,  and  spoiled, 
and  been  begged  to  believe,  and  had  jeered  at  the  good  souls  who 
prayed  for  him,  was  much  excited  and  fretted  by  a  more  inde- 
pendent sort  of  treatment,  in  which  the  scepticism  which  he  so 
boastfully  entertained  respecting  the  claims  of  Jesus  was  entertained 
as  to  his  own.  This  was  a  sin  against  free  enquiry.  Hence,  on  the 
last  evening,  he  complained  that,  "  Throughout  this  discussion  our 
adversary  has  addressed  us  in  the  tone  which  marked  our  previous 
correspondence."   (219.)     This  should  have  been  a  warning  to  him 


90 

to  withdraw  from  an  encounter  with   "  nibbling  logic  and  a  biting 
sarcasm." 

The  whole  tone  of  his  party  was  checked  ;  and  from  the  ridiculous 
triumph  with  which  they  grinned  at  good  men  who  wasted  solemnity 
on  them,  felt  quite  astonishment  and  anger  at  my  free  handling  of 
their  high  priest,  who  himself  took  to  the  solemn  line.  He  also 
dealt  considerably  in  appeals  to  the  pity  of  spectators,  and  wanted 
very  much  to  induce  my  friends  to  excommunicate  me  for  my  daring 
criticisms.  Every  argument  against  his  professed  principles  was 
treated  as  a  personal  accusation.  "  I  have  a  right  to  ask  "  he  says, 
(page  183)  "  that  everywhere  in  this  country  we  shall  no  longer  be 
represented  as  preaching  doctrines  injurious  to  mankind."  But 
while  he  considered  it  persecution  to  represent  his  doctrines  as 
injurious,  one  of  his  propositions  for  that  debate  was  "  The  Atone- 
ment unsatisfactory  as  a  scheme,  and  immoral  as  an  example." 
This,  however,  he  was  driven  out  of;  and  said  he  did  not  mean 
"  immoral "  in  the  English  sense  of  the  word.  But  what  is  here 
insisted  on  as  a  lesson  is,  that  Free  thinkers  of  all  sorts  loudly  claim 
freedom  to  denounce  other  people's  sentiments,  and  resent  criticism 
of  their  own,  as  an  infringement  of  their  rights.  He  told  the  people 
that  my  way  of  treating  him  was  worse  than  imprisonment,  and  I 
believed  him ;  for  to  put  him  in  prison  would  properly  awaken  sym- 
pathy, while  to  answer  and  expose  his  assertions  would  put  him  in 
the  pillory  of  criticism,  which  he  pretended  to  ask  for  and  did  not  like. 
A  favourite  phrase  of  his,  to  relieve  his  feelings,  was  to  call  argu- 
ments that  troubled  him  "The  art  of  making  Christianity  disagree- 
sble,"  (page  250)  as  if  he  rather  liked  it,  till  he  could  not  answer  its 
advocates. 

After  applying  this  phrase  emphatically  to  me,  he  went  on  in  this 
furious  fashion: — "And  while  you  stand  with  one  hand  on  the 
Bible,  and  the  other  thus  at  our  throats,  and  cry  '  Believe! 
or  we  denounce  you  as  infamous  in  life  and  deserving  perdition  in 
death,'  you  deepen  the  conviction  on  my  mind  that  the  '  glad 
tidings  of  the  gospel '  merely  mean  good-will  to  those  who  believe  as 
you  believe,  and  ill-will  to  all  who  do  not.  It  was  my  duty  the 
other  night  to  show  that  Christianity  justified  persecution.*  Now 
what  is  the  difference  between  the  spirit  in  which  we  are  addressed 
and  that  of  the  persecutor  ?"  (page  25G)  This  was  slightly  "personal ;" 
but  directly  after,  he  says  of  his  "  persecutor  " — "  I  have  nowhere 
called  in  question  his  sincerity,  or  the  purity  of  his  motives ;"  as  if 
he  were  not  doing  it  then,  in  a  meek  kind  of  way. 

*  He  failed  to  show  it,  and  this  makes  him  so  gentle. 


91 

•  In  my  next  speech  I  observed,  "  if  Mr.Holyoake  does  not  'question 
my  motives'  he  cannot  blame  my  conduct ;"  and  "  if  what  I  have 
said  is  not  true,  Mr.  Holyoake  should  disprove  it."  (page  258.) 
These  are  points  which  those  men  never  think  of. 

But  to  return  to  our  ruffled  debater,  he  declared  passionately  : — 
"Why,  during  my  six  months'  imprisonment  in  Gloucester  gaol,  for 
answering  a  question  of  a  local  preacher  in  Cheltenham,  neither  by 
the  crown  lawyer,  nor  by  Mr.  Justice  Erskine,  nor  by  the  chaplain, 
the  Rev.  Robert  Cooper,  was  language  used  to  me  half  so  bad  as 
that  which  has  been  applied  to  me*  during  this  discussion  ;  and  I 
now  see  that  less  injustice  is  done  to  me  by  a  legal  persecution  by 
the  Church  of  England,  than  in  a  discussion  with  an  Independent 
Dissenting  minister.  Mr.  Grant  will  see  in  this  only  another  'grand 
compliment  to  his  argument;'  but  the  public  will  see  in  it  something 
very  different.  In  discussions  with  other  ministers,  when  I  have 
pointed  out  the  spirit  of  acerbity  which  Christianity  seemed  to  me 
to  justify,  they  denied  my  conclusions,  and  I  have  said, — 'Wait  till 
we  meet  some  accredited  Evangelical  minister,  and  then  you  shall 
see ;'  and  when  Mr.  Grant's  attention  was  drawn  last  night  to  his 
own  conduct,  you  heard  the  reply,  which  ought  not,  and  which  shall 
not  be  soon  forgotten,  '  I  shall  justify  the  conduct  of  Christ,  Whose 
example  justifies  my  own  course.'  And  Mr.  Grant  is  right.  The 
Scriptures  fully  bear  him  out." 

"  That  whatever  treatment  we  have  experienced  in  this  discussion 
is  scriptural,  we  have  the  further  testimony  of  the  British  Banner, 
which  last  week  declared,  on  the  part  of  the  intelligent  and  numerous 
body  of  Evangelical  Christians  who  put  Mr.  Grant  forward,  that  'he 
completely  meets  their  views  as  to  the  manner  in  which  the  thing 
ought  to  be  gone  about.'  "     (P.  257.) 

My  constant  plan  was  to  keep  reviewing  the  ground  gone  over, 
and  hold  up  the  main  point  of  debate  ;  as  on  the  same  evening,  I 
observed  : — "  It  becomes  my  duty  once  more  to  see  that  the  object 
and  conditions  of  this  discussion  shall  be  clearly  understood.  The 
general  proposition  is  now  well  known, — '  What  benefits  would  be 
gained  by  mankind  in  general,  and  the  working  classes  in  particular, 
as  to  this  life,  by  the  removal  of  Christianity  and  the  substitution  of 
Secularism  in  its  place.'  Mr.  Holyoake  adopted  and  signed  this, 
having  altered  it  by  omitting  the  term  Atheistic,  that  'our  religions 
might'   not   '  come  into  collision,'  for  he  has  kept  his  own  out  of 

•  Mr.  Holyoake  regarded  every  proof  of  the  immoral  tendency  of  his  doctrines 
as  a  personal  accusation  ;  and  applied  it  all  to  himself,  whether  properly  or  not. 


sight.  Whatever  has  not  tended  to  establish  this  general  propo- 
sition has  been  beside  the  mark.  But  Mr.  Holyoake  disavowed  this 
proposition  on  the  second  evening,  and  therefore  virtually  abandoned 
the  object  of  this  discussion,  as  too  extravagant  even  for  him  to 
maintain  :  and  he  adopted  the  course,  not  of  removing  Christianity, 
but  of  stealing  from  it,  to  adorn  his  own  barren  annals  with  the 
spoils  of  '  the  Charlatan  Christ.'  He  advanced  two  pretexts  for 
this  evasion ;  first,  that  the  proposition  he  adopted  was  explained 
away  by  the  proposition  he  rejected,  and  that  whilst  Christianity  is 
to  be  explained  literally,  in  all  its  figures,  he  is  not  literally  bound 
to  a  signature  that  was  not  figurative." 

"  The  second  pretext  for  his  evasion  was,  that  the  proposition 
originated  with  me ;  therefore,  though  he  signed  it,  he  does  not 
pretend  to  maintain  it ;  and  this  course  would  render  all  debate 
impossible,  since  the  proposition  must  originate  with  one  side,  and 
Mr.  Holyoake  has  taught  the  other  side  to  repudiate  what  they 
sign,  because  it  did  not  commence  with  them.  The  main  proposition, 
signed  by  both  disputants,  and  agreed  upon  by  two  committees, 
Mr.  Holyoake  did  on  the  second  night  abandon,  and  decried  the 
assertion  he  came  here  to  maintain." 

The  great  point  secured  in  this  debate,  besides  carrying  my  side 
of  the  proposition,  was  to  abate  the  nuisance  to  which  clergy  and 
ministers  had  been  exposed  of  perpetual  challenges. 

As  I  observed: — "  This  point  then  is  securely  gained,  in  con- 
nexion with  this  discussion,  that,  whereas  Mr.  Holyoake  commenced 
with  me  in  my  chapel,  and  all  over  to  country  openly  defied  the 
clergy,  and  lectured  on  their  avoiding  discussion,  till  his  corre- 
spondence with  me  ;  I  have  now  silenced  that  cry ;  and  they  have 
set  up  another,  changing  the  boast  of  '  opposition  their  opportunity' 
into  silence  their  safety ;  and  for  the  policy  of  forcing  debate,  they 
have  retired  into  the  fastness  of  ■  discretionary  silence,'  whilst, 
further,  every  principle  and  every  name  held  in  connexion  with  the 
Eeasoner,  as  a  positive  denial  of  God,  or  Christianity,  or  another 
life,  up  to  the  time  of  settling  the  proposition  of  this  debate,  is 
retired  from  and  abandoned  ;  for  Secularists  now  only  profess  what 
nobody  ever  denied,  namely,  the  importance  of  this  life  and  science, 
which  they  illogically  call  the  'positive  side'  of  those  negations  which 
Mr.  Holyoake  refused  to  recognize  in  this  discussion.  His  com- 
mencing repudiation  of  the  Eeasoner  was  intimated  in  the  fact,  that 
he  wished  me  to  confine  my  reference  to  two  years ;  and  then  wrote 
by  the  next  post  to  declare,  that  he  did  not  mean  what  he  said. 
Now,  if  he  has  been  safe  only  two  years,  may  he  not  find,  at  the 


93 

end  of  two  more  years,  that  his  followers  had  better  imitate  those 
who,  in  the  Acts,  burned  their  '  curious  books '  at  the  approach  of 
the  Gospel?" 

Mr.  Holyoake  for  this  discussion  adopted  a  work,  called  "  The 
Task  of  To-day,"  as  one  of  the  "advised  and  revised"  standards 
of  the  new  Secular  Faith;  in  this  work,  the  "Task"  is  to  destroy 
and  remove  Christianity,  as  now  the  obstruction  to  progress.  The 
writer  of  it  acknowledges  that  Christianity  was  the  only  bridge 
by  which  the  world  could  pass  over  to  a  better  state  ;  but  asserts 
that  it  now  stops  the  way.  The  second  half  of  my  concluding 
speech — which  follows,  and  with  which  I  conclude  this  chapter,  was 
founded  on  this  "Task  of  To-day  " — to  dismiss  Christianity,  which 
is  acknowledged  to  have  done  the  world  some  service. 

The  Atheist  secular  author  had  said  : — "  'When  Jesus  appeared, 
the  world  was  ripe  for  change.  Beginning  to  be  sick  of  mythology 
and  Judaism,  but  still  clinging  to  many  deep-rooted  prejudices,  and 
incapable  of  discovering  the  whole  truth,  it  wanted  supernatural 
authority  for  every  great  moral  and  social  innovation."  In  other 
words,  nothing  short  of  Christianity,  a  religion  claiming  Divine 
authority,  appealing  to  the  natural  awe  of  mankind,  was  capable  of 
improving  the  world  ;  or,  in  Secular  dialect,  nothing  but  lies  were  of 
any  service.  Then,  if  the  present  improved  state  of  the  world 
could  only  be  attained  by  this  religion,  the  present  elements  of  pro- 
gress are  due  to  Christianity,  since  this  '  lie  hath  abounded '  to  the 
world's  hope  and  advancement ;  and  its  continuance  and  cultivation 
may  be  as  useful  as  the  helpless  and  pitiful  pretender  which  declares 
that  it  could  not  have  done  any  good,  in  the  deranged  condition  of 
the  world  when  Christ  came ;  but  now  that  He  has  set  the  egg  on 
end,  if  He  will  but  stand  aside,  these  boastful  reformers  will  manage 
the  world  for  the  future.  And  now  Christianity  is  dismissed  with 
these  grateful  words  : — '  Whatever  share  the  Christian  religion  may 
have  taken  in  the  work  of  civilization,  was  finished  long  ago — its 
errand  is  done.'  "Well,  yours  is  but  just  begun;  you  have  done 
nothing.  Nor  can  Christianity  have  '  finished  its  work  long  ago,' 
when  you  admit  that  the  Reformation,  the  re -assertion  of  Christian 
liberty,  freed  the  world  from  spiritual  serfdom.  '  Protestantism,' 
he  observes,  was  '  certainly  an  advancement  on  Papal  Christianity,  as 
far  as  liberty,  humanity,  and  honesty  are  concerned.'  Again,  he 
writes,  '  The  Reformation  claimed  for  mankind  the  right  of  private 
judgment,  and  opened  the  road  for  every  man's  escape  from  the 
shackles  of  spiritual  despotism.'  Now,  this  was  the  benefit  first 
introduced  by  Christianity,  and  renewed  in  the  Reformation,  whose 
work  is  surely  not  yet  performed,  since  there  are  still  many  countries 


94 

in  which  men  are  not  free ;  they  are  free  nowhere,  except  where  the 
Bible  is  free,  and  where  it  has  achieved  freedom  for  the  Infidel  who 
rejects  it.  And  here  the  '  Secular  Standard '  declares  the  value  of 
Christianity  to  every  man,  as  the  source  of  every  man's  freedom. 

This  'errand'  of  freeing  men  from  slavery  is  'not  done;'  and  the 
same  reason  which  existed  all  over  the  world,  requiring  Christianity 
at  its  origin,  now  exists  in  all  those  parts  of  the  world  where  Christ- 
ianity has  not  been  published  or  received ;  and  in  those  parts  where  it 
has  been  subverted  by  priests,  for  a  means  of  despotism ;  so  that  it 
has  work  enough  yet,  and  is  required  as  much  as  ever,  in  Pagan  and 
Popish  lands ;  whilst  Christian  lands  know  it  too  well  to  abandon  it 
at  the  request  of  men  who,  like  priests,  misrepresent  it.  Chris- 
tianity has  begun  and  advanced  a  good  work,  which  is  not  yet 
finished ;  so  it  is  still  required,  to  move  the  heathen  and  to  move 
the  Romans,  who  are  heathenized  Christians,  and  '  who,'  as  of  old, 
'  cannot  possibly  be  saved  without  a  supernatural  religion ;'  there- 
fore that  which  justified  its  introduction,  justifies  its  continuance. 
The  author  of  the  'Task  of  To -Day,''  who  has  thus  dismissed 
Christianity,  addressing  his  reader,  very  solemnly  declares — '  You 
are  no  prophet,  none  of  us  are  prophets ;  but  let  us  be  well  assured 
that  no  bad  consequences  will  arise  from  truth,  and  no  good  from 
submission  to  falsehood.'  This  is  when  he  is  giving  a  reason  for 
abandoning  Christianity;  but  at  the  period  of  its  introduction,  good 
came  out  of  its  falsehood  ;  now,  however,  the  great  '  task  '  he  sets 
men,  is,  to  repudiate  the  only  system  which  has  done  men  any  good. 
This  consistent  Rationalist  has  written  an  epitaph  for  Christianity 
before  it  is  dead,  and  eulogizes  Secularism  before  it  is  born. 
■  Christianity,'  he  writes,  '  once  a  green  and  flourishing  tree,  is 
now  sapless,  pithless,  and  rotten  ;  nothing  but  the  bark  is  left ;  it 
totters  to  and  fro.  Let  thinking  men  quit  its  shade,  lest  it  crush 
them  in  its  fall.'  Did  he  not  rightly  say  he  was  no  prophet  ?  Let 
no  man  be  in  haste  to  get  out  of  the  road;  the  tree  is  in  no  hurry  to 
fall;  if  *  only  the  bark  is  left,'  it  must  be  very  tough,  to  keep  up- 
right, and  to  rock  to  and  fro ;  there  was  never  such  a  spectacle  seen 
before — it  is  another  of  the  miraculous  lies  of  fire-eating  scepticism. 
Beside  Mr.  Bell  may  be  informed  that  if  '  only  the  bark  is  left,'  the 
fall  of  the  tree  would  break  no  man's  bones  ;  so  that  the  danger  is 
as  imaginary  from  the  fall,  as  the  danger  of  likelihood  of  a  fall. 
When  the  sky  falls  we  shall  catch  larks  ;  but  heaven  and  earth  will 
pass  away  before  the  tree  of  life  falls ;  which  the  freethinker  con- 
fesses did  once  heal  the  nations,  when  his  gourd  had  not  sprung  up, 
and  which  will  remain  to  give  immortal  fruits  and  cooling  shade  to 
the  hungry  and  weary  traveller  through  this  pilgrimage. 


95 

We  cannot  but  marvel  at  the  eagerness  of  our  cabinet-maker  to 
fell  this  tree  ;  it  is  falling,  and  people  are  to  run  out  of  the  way  ; 
and  yet  he  follows  up  this  assurance  in  the  imperative  mood  : — ■ 
'  Let  all  help  to  make  it  fall  in  a  safe  direction.'  This  we  imagine 
will  require  '  a  long  pull,  a  strong  pull,  and  a  pull  altogether  ;'  but 
infidels  never  pull  together,  they  pull  away  in  different  directions, 
and  so  counterbalance  each  other's  efforts  ;  when  they  shake  and  tug 
they  naturally  imagine  the  tree  rocks  to  and  fro,  as  drunken  men 
upbraid  the  earth  for  reeling.  They  not  only  cannot  pull  together, 
but  none  of  them  pull  very  long  -at  the  same  rope  ;  they  are  always 
for  progress,  that  is,  for  changing  the  direction  of  the  pull,  and  their 
progress  is  like  that  of  an  infant, — from  teething  to  hooping-cough, 
and  from  hooping-cough  to  measles,  and  from  measles  to  consump- 
tion, and  from  consumption  to  the  grave  ;  and  then  as  one  rope  rots 
they  bury  it,  and  think  the  tree  is  rotting  ;  as  from  the  death  of  one 
form  of  sceptical  development  they  go  to  the  birth  of  another  pro- 
mising child,  like  Mr.  Holyoake  at  Bradford,  who  on  the  24th  of 
August  last,  gave  '  a  new  development  of  the  principles  of  free 
enquirers,'  and  so  they  take  a  new  voyage,  in  a  new  balloon,  to  see 
which  way  the  wind  blows,  which  rocks  our  tree  into  increased 
power,  as  a  giant  sapling,  already  the  king  of  the  forest.  With  all 
their  progress  they  come  round  to  the  old  place,  like  a  horse  in  a 
mill,  or  a  squirrel  in  a  cage,  or  a  weathercock  on  a  steeple — always 
progressing  and  never  getting  on.  They  would  do  well  if  this  tree 
did  not  stop  them;  but  now  let  them  start  one  of  their  own,  with  a 
seed  out  of  their  Cabinet,  and  let  it  compete  fairly  in  the  great  exhi- 
bition of  all  magnificent  products. 

But  these  new  '  developments,'  that  is,  digging  up  the  old  seeds 
to  sow  new  ones,  are  very  satisfactory  acknowledgments  of  dissatis- 
faction with  all  that  they  have  attempted.  Meanwhile,  this  tree  of 
ours  is  still  a  '  hale  green  tree,'  after  two  thousand  years,  and  pro- 
mises to  remain  so  when  a  thousand  more  shall  have  gone.  It 
grows  in  the  soil  of  human  affections  and  intellect,  it  grows  in  a 
free  atmosphere,  it  makes  the  atmosphere  free  and  wholesome,  it 
confessedly  alone  could  heal  the  bitter  waters  of  the  old  world,  when 
Christ  planted  it ;  and  the  renovated  part  of  mankind  having  grown 
up  with  it,  and  been  fostered  by  it,  in  the  infancy  of  the  world's 
improvement,  still  guards  it  jealously,  singing — 

1  0  !  woodman  spare  that  tree, 
Touch  not  a  single  bough  ; 
In  youth  it  shelter'd  me, 
^nd  1 :11  protect  it  now.' 


96 

It  was  planted  in  suffering,  it  has  been  watered  with  blood  and  tears, 
it  has  grown  up  under  the  oppression  of  the  combined  forces  of  dark- 
ness, priests,  and  tyrants, — it  has  become  strong,  and  now  stands 
calmly  defying  all  oppressors,  healing  all  who  taste  its  fruits ;  and 
after  all  the  fitful  efforts  of  a  variable  philosophy,  guided  to  the 
attack  with  dark  lanterns  and  Will-'o-the-wisp  '  developments,'  it 
will  still  remain  for  the  healing  and  preservation  of  the  nations." 


Chapter  X. 

THE     RIVULET    CONTROVERSY  :      "  WHAT'S    IT    ALL 

ABOUT  ?  "—1855-6. 

The  above  controversy  raged  very  fiercely  in  our  denomination, 
and  its  effects  are  still  felt  among  us.  The  Rev.  T.  Binney,  who 
was  somewhat  prominent  in  the  affair,  in  a  letter  to  the  Congrega- 
tional Union  on  a  question  into  which  he  sought  to  merge  "  the 
controversy," — observed  : — "  The  facts  of  the  case  with  which  you 
will  have  to  deal,  will  in  their  circumstances  and  moral  aspects  be 
the  same  six  months  hence,  or  six  centuries." 

Those  who  wish  to  understand  the  growth  of  opinion  and  method 
of  advocacy  amongst  Independents, — who  directly  and  indirectly 
affect  other  denominations, — will  find  some  useful  lessons  in  a  suc- 
cinct review  of  that  animated  discussion  in  which  the  brave  old 
Dr.  Campbell  stood  forward  with  zeal  and  fidelity,  in  defence  of 
what  he  considered  to  be  the  truth  of  the  gospel,  and  was  well 
abused  for  his  pains,  by  those  loftier  spirits  who  consider  that  all 
freedom  of  opinion  should  be  confined  to  the  self-styled  liberal 
thinkers. 

Seeing  that  by  the  activity  of  his  foes  and  the  number  of  organs 
at  their  disposal,  the  veteran  defender  of  the  gospel  was  liable  to  be 
almost  overmatched,  and  that  a  combined  effort  was  made  to  extin- 
guish him  ;  and  believing  that  a  more  terse  and  logical  handling  of 
the  matter  might  present  the  whole  subject  in  a  short  narrative,  I 
determined  on  writing  "  What's  it  all  about  ?  or  both  sides  of  the 
'  Rivulet'  controversy,  with  a  fourth  appendix  to  Mr.  Binney's 
letter  to  the  Congregational  Union." 

Being  about  this  time  lecturing  at  Cheltenham,  I  read  the  sub- 
stance of  my  statement  to  the  Rev.  Morton  Brown,  LL.D.,  who 
sent  word  to  Dr.  Campbell  that  I  had  achieved  "  a  miracle  of 


97 

logic."    The  pamphlet  was  published  by  Mr.  W.  H.  Collingeidge, 
City  Press,  1,  Long-lane,  and  some  ten  thousand  of  it  were  said  in 
a  fortnight. 
The  facts  of  the  case  were  as  follows  :  — 

"  The  Eev.  T.  T.  Lynch,  a  minister  of  some  individuality  and  genius,  published 
a  book  entitled — '  The  Rivulet :  Hymns  for  the  Heart  and  Voice  ; '  which  work 
not  only  professed  to  be  poetry,  but  was  incautiously  put  forth  by  its  author  as  a 
Hymn  Book,  which  led  to  a  theological  criticism  of  it,  as  a  specimen  of  devotional 
psalmody,  in  the  columns  of  the  Morning  Advertiser. 

The  editor  of  that  paper  expressed  a  decided  opinion  that  the  book  was  theo- 
logically defective  for  its  avowed  purpose,  and,  perhaps,  few  ministers,  however 
much  enjoying  this  poetry  in  their  private  moods,  would  like  to  give  out  these 
hymns  two  lines  at  a  time,  to  'peculiar  metre,''  and  look  the  congregation  in  the 
face  while  singing — 

'  The  dewy  flowers  more  beautiful 
For  tears  upon  their  open  face, 
Gaze  on  us  as  from  hearts  brimful 
Of  tender  pity  for  our  case.' 
But  every  one  to  his  taste  ;  the  point  now  to  be  observed  is  that  it  was  a  mis- 
take to  put  forth  this  poetry  as  hymns  for  Christian  congregations.     As  poetry, 
the  book  might  have  passed ;  but  being  unfortunately  described  as  hymns,  and 
professedly  sung  in  the  author's  congregation,  gave  rise  to  suspicion  and  comment: 
thus  originated  this  '  Controversy.'  " 

The  Eclectic  Review  then  criticised  the  same  production,  praising 
it  especially  for  "  giving  utterance,  and  not  unworthily,  to  those 
aspirations  of  the  Christian's  heart,  which  have  the  Saviour  for  their 
object."  This  number  of  the  "  Eclectic  "  being  sent  to  the  Morning 
Advertiser  for  notice,  the  reviewer  in  that  paper  animadverted  on 
the  lofty  praise  bestowed  on  the  Rivulet's  high  spirituality ;  and 
remarked  that,  "  with  the  solitary  exception  of  the  Rev.  Newman 
Hall,  no  one  of  any  note  has  ventured  to  vouch  for  the  theology 
of  this  volume."  There  must  have  been  some  force  in  these  anim- 
adversions, as  they  provoked  the  parties  referred  to,  into  a  peculiar 
method  of  replying  to  a  criticism.  Their  reply  became  celebrated 
under  the  title  of  "the  Peotest,"  a  paper  addressed  to  the  editor 
of  the  Eclectic  Review,  partly  to  console  him  for  his  sufferings  in 
the  encounter,  and  chiefly  to  protect  one  of  the  signers  of  the  "  Pro- 
test ;  "  the  whole  of  whom  became  known  as  a  body  by  the  name  of 
"  The  Fifteen,"  to  which  the  adjective  "  immortal"  was  occasionally 
prefixed.     The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  remarkable  document : — 

"THE  PROTEST. 

TO  THE  EDITOR  OF  THE    '  ECLECTIC  REVIEW.' 

Our  attention  has  been  called  to  a  matter  of  controversy  between  the  Eclectic 
Review  and  the  Morniny  Advertiser,  on  the  subject  of  a  book  of  Christian  hymns, 
recently  published  by  the  Rev.  T.  T.  Lynch. 


98 

We  are  slow  to  intrude  into  such  controversies,  but  there  appears  to  us  reasons 
■which,  in  this  instance,  justify  a  somewhat  unusual  course.  We  have  read  the 
reviews  with  pain  and  shame ;  and  feel  called  upon  to  express  our  utter  hatred 
of  such  modes  of  dealing  with  either  a  book,  or  a  man.  The  Reviewer  has  invoked 
so  solemnly  the  sacred  name  of  evangelical  truth  to  consecrate  his  criticism,  that 
■we,  loving  the  gospel,  feel  bound  to  enter  our  Protest ;  and  one  of  our  number, 
Mr.  Newman  Hall,  having  been  severely  blamed  for  his  public  commendation 
of  Mr.  Lynch's  poems,  we,  sharing  his  convictions,  gladly  place  ourselves  at 
his   SIDE. 

In  a  book  of  Hymns  for  the  Heart  and  Voice,  we  did  not  look  for  didactic 
theological  statements,  but  -we  found  in  a  measure,  that  greatly  delighted  us,  a 
spring  of  fresh  and  earnest  piety,  and  the  utterance  of  an  experience  eminently 
Christian,  and  of  no  ordinary  complexion  and  range,  with  a  clear  recognition 
of  the  work  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  of  the  divine  Spirit.  We  feel  no  call 
to  review  the  Reviewer  of  the  poems.  We  content  ourselves  with  simply  ex- 
pressing our  conviction  that  the  spirit  of  the  review,  and  the  conclusions  and 
judgments  of  the  Reviewer,  and  the  manner  in  which  Mr.  Lynch  is  personally 
referred  to,  are  most  false  and  unrighteous,  and  that,  if  this  is  suffered  to  pass 
current  as  a  specimen  of  Christian  reviewing,  then  Christian  reviewing  wrill  soon 
become  an  offence  unto  all  good  men. 

Concerning  the  doctrinal  beliefs  of  Mr.  Lynch  we  are  not  called  upon  to  offer 
a  judgment.  It  were  to  place  ourselves  and  him  in  a  false  position,  to  set  up 
ourselves  as  his  judges  in  this  matter.  Some  of  us  have  no  personal  knowledge 
of  Mr.  Lynch,  and  know  him  only  by  his  works  ;  most  of  us  know  him  well, 
having  frequent  opportunities  of  meeting  him  in  close  Christian  intercourse,  and 
■we  simply  declare  that  we  love  him  as  a  Christian  brother,  and  hold  him  in  high 
honour  as  one  who,  by  severe  and  patient  thought,  has  gained  a  great  hnow- 
ledge  and  understanding  of  that  truth  which  is  held  in  common  by  all  evan- 
gelical churches — '  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.'  Though  in  our  mode  of  stating 
many  things  we  should  probably  differ  from  him  and  from  each  other,  we  know 
that  we  have  '  one  Lord  and  one  faith.'  We  find  ample  evidence  of  this  in 
the  book  under  consideration,  and  cordially  underwrite  your  recommendation  to 
your  readers  to  study  it  and  judge  for  themselves. 

We  do  not  imagine  that  the  sentiments  of  the  articles  to  which  we  allude  can 
have  any  influence  over  your  subscribers,  but  if  you  think  the  frank  statement  of 
a  few  Christian  brethren  can  help  you  in  maintaining  the  standard  of  true 
Christian  reviewing,  we,  believing  that  you  have  been  most  unjustly  assailed, 
place  it  heartily  at  your  disposal. 


Henry  All  on, 
Thomas  Binney, 
J.  Baldwin  Brown 
Jas.  Fleming, 


Newman  Hall, 
J.  C.  Harrison, 
Edward  Jukes, 
Benjamin  Kent, 


Samuel  Martin, 
S.  Newth, 
John  Nunn, 
Watson  Smith, 


James  Spence, 
R.Alfred  Vaughan 
Edward  White." 


The  peculiar  circumstance  in  this  protest,  besides  its  wild  and 
general  accusations,  as  a  specimen  of  "  true  christian  reviewing," 
is,  that  "the  fifteen"  resent  the  Morning  Advertiser  s  "  mode  of 
dealing  with  a  man" — and  say,  that  "the  manner  in  which  Mr. 
Lynch  is  personally  referred  to  is  most  false  and  unrighteous," 
when  the  only  thing  that  had  been  said  of  him  "  personally"  was, 
— that  he  was  "  an  amiable  and  certainly  an  intellectual  man,  of 
cultivated  mind,  largely  imbued  with  a  poetic  spirit." 


99 

The  protestors  had  either  forgotten  what  had  been  said  of  their 
friend,  or  thought  nobody  would  enquire,  but  all  would  implicitly 
believe  that  such  "  utter  hatred"  as  they  expressed  must  be  occa- 
sioned by  some  enormity.  It  is  the  custom  however  of  this  class 
of  men,  to  draw  largely  on  the  faith  of  their  disciples. 

Whatever  they  cannot  answer,  they  protest  against  with  assumed 
horror,  which  they  hope  will  be  infectious. 

Even  the  defence  of  the  author  of  the  "  Kivulet"  seemed 
deprived  of  all  grace  and  magnanimity,  by  the  anxiety  of  the  pro- 
testors to  defend  "  one  of"  their  "number,"  Mr.  Newman  Hall, 
by  "  gladly  placing"  themselves  "  at  his  side." 

Another  reviewer  now  entered  the  field,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Campbell, 
who  thundered  in  his  British  Banner,  till  Mr.  Binney  acknowledged 
in  his  first  appendix  to  a  letter  printed  for  private  circulation,  that 
"  the  author  was  in  error  to  call  his  poems  hymns,"  and  that  it 
"  would  be  an  error  to  use  them  as  such.  In  the  next  place,"  he 
added,  "  there  were  errors  on  the  part  of  '  the  fifteen.'  It  was 
an  error  to  issue  a  protest  at  all,  things  had  better  have  been  left 
to  take  their  course.  It  was  an  error  for  the  protest  to  say  all  it 
did,  because  some  of  it  would  be  known  only  to  persons  on  peculiar 
terms  of  intimacy  with  the  person  defended ;  and  further  there 
were  words,  if  not  expressions,  incautious  to  say  the  least." 

People  generally  would  imagine  that  after  so  handsome  a  recan- 
tation, the  penitent  would  walk  softly  and  that  the  matter  would 
end  ;  but  this  was  only  an  appendix  to  an  attempt  to  injure  the 
"  moral  character  of  Dr.  Campbell,"  in  revenge  for  his  forcing  the 
oldest  of  "  the  fifteen"  into  this  acknowledgment.  Having  re- 
pented, or  at  least  recanted,  he  could  with  a  better  grace  commit 
another  fault. 

It  having  been  announced  that  Dr.  Campbell  was  about  to  re- 
publish, with  additions,  his  British  Banner  articles  on  "  the  Rivulet," 
Mr.  Binney  introduced  the  matter  into  the  Congregational  Union 
meetings,  May  17,  1856,  protesting  against  this  reproduction,  and 
urging  the  Doctor  not  to  carry  out  his  promise  to  the  public.  In  a 
fit  of  generosity  the  Doctor  gave  way,  but  only  to  find  afterwards 
that  this  act  of  his  was  not  regarded  as  a  concession  of  grace,  but 
a  pledge  that  nothing  of  the  kind  should  appear  in  the  Banner 
again.  This  gave  it  the  appearance  of  a  condemnatory  suppression, 
as  if  the  critic  and  not  those  whom  he  criticised  had  been  in  the 
wrong,  or  as  if  the  Doctor  had  recaated  the  gospel  and  taken  to 
negative  theology  !  But  though  he  was  thus  entrapped  into  a  pro- 
mise which  he  kept,  Mr.  W.  H.  Collingbidge  from  his  own  interest 


100 

in  the  subject  determined  that  the  articles  should  not  be  suppressed, 
and  re-published  them  on  his  own  account. 

Whereupon  the  cry  was  raised  that  Dr.  Campbell  had  broken 
faith,  and  those  who  had  been  driven  by  him  out  of  their  defence  of 
bad  theology,  sought  by  every  method,  open  and  clandestine,  to 
fasten  on  him  the  charge  of  bad  morality.  It  was  at  this  stage  that 
I  came  in  and  analysed  the  proofs  adduced  for  this  extraordinary 
charge. 

Before  the  question  was  so  changed — from  the  theology  of  "the 
Rivulet"  and  its  suitableness  as  a  hymn-book  for  Christian  worship 
to  what  Mr.  Binney  called  "  the  moral  character  of  Dr.  Campbell" 
— the  real  point  originally  at  issue  had  been  given  up.  But  this  is 
the  perpetual  course  of  our  more  liberal  thinkers  ;  when  foiled  as  to 
the  subject  in  hand  they  invariably  attack  the  spirit  and  character 
of  those  who  put  them  down  in  argument. 

As  to  this  charge,  that  "  Dr.  Campbell  had  broken  faith"  by 
republishing  his  articles,  I  wrote  the  following  dialogue,  which 
specially  excited  the  anger  of  the  Nonconformist,  which  took  the 
side  of  gentlemanly  taste  in  this  matter.  The  following  dialogue 
was  supposed  to  take  place  between  Mr.  Binney  and  the  writer :  the 
speakers  are  distinguished  by  their  initials.  All  the  words  in 
inverted  commas  are  Mr.  Binney's,  either  as  spoken  in  the  Union 
or  as  written  in  his  letter  to  the  Union,  with  prefix  and  appendix  to 
the  pages  of  which  the  numerals  refer: — 

B. — Dr.  Campbell  has  broken  faith  with  the  Union. 

G.— How  ? 

B. — He  promised  not  to  publish  his  "  Rivulet"  articles  with  preface  and 
additions,  as  he  had  engaged  to  do. 

Gk— Well? 

B. — But  he  has  done  so. 

G. — Indeed  !  "Where  is  the  preface,  and  what  is  the  additional  matter  ? 

B. — This  is  mere  evasion;  "the  thing"  is  done,  and  if  there  are  no  "  addi- 
tions," at  least  Dr.  Campbell  has  republished  the  articles  themselves. 

G.— Who  told  you  ? 

B. — "  The  thing"  "  assumes  such  a  shape  in  my  mind." 

G. — Suspicion  is  shapeless  till  it  is  fashioned  by  design.  But  how  do  you 
make  out  that  Dr.  Campbell  has  violated  his  promise  ? 

B. — The  pamphlet  has  appeared. 

G. — Did  the  Doctor  put  it  forth  ? 

B. — "  What  the  meeting  deprecated  was,"  not  merely  Dr.  Campbell's  "  autho- 
rizing," or  putting  it  forth,  but  its  appearance  at  all,  *'  by  -whomsoever  put 
forth." 

G. — Then  you  think  the  Doctor  guilty  for  not  preventing  "  whomsoever"  doing 
what  he  promised  not  to  do  ? 

B  — Certainly  ;  "it  never  occurred  to  the  meeting  that  Dr.  Campbell  had  not 
the  power  to  secure  this."  (4.) 


101 

G. — "  I  am  not  aware  that  I  am  doing  yon  injustice  when  I  cay  that  I  think 
you  are  not  very  clear  or  connected  "  (1)  :  for  observe,  we  are  not  speaking  of 
what  "  did  not  occur  to  the  meeting."  but  of  what  did  occur  at  the  meeting — in 
fact,  of  Dr.  Campbell's  promise.     What  was  it? 

B.— That  the  pamphlet  should  be  suppressed. 

G. — Was  that  what  you  asked  of  him  when  you  said  it  was  announced  that  he 
was  going  "to  publish  his  letters  with  some  new  additional  matter  ?"  and  "  I 
entreat  Dr.  Campbell  to  suppress  such  intended  publication  ?" 

B. — We  did  not  merely  mean  that  he  should  not  do  this,  but  that  no  one 
should  do  any  part  of  it. 

G. — I  am  not  inquiring  what  you  meant,  but  what  he  promised,  and  what  you 
actually  requested. 

B. — '•  It  was  the  general  understanding"  that  he  could  and  would  prevent  all 
others. 

G. — But  you  say  you  do  not  know  whether  this  understanding  was  "  right  or 
wrong."  I  want  to  know  whether  you  argue  from  "the  general  understanding," 
or  from  the  particular  promise  ? 

B. — The  promise  is  to  be  interpreted  by  the  general  understanding. 

G. — Whether  right  or  wrong  ? 

B. — This  is  trifling.  "  In  common,  I  believe,  with  most  of  the  assembly,  I 
understood  that  before  that  day  terminated  the  printer  would  have  received  the 
promised  prohibition"  (3). 

G. — But  why  did  you  "  believe"  that  they  "  understood"  he  would  write  to  the 
printer,  if  you  thought  it  was  "the  general  understanding"  that  he  was  bound  to 
stop  all  printers  "  whomsoever  ?"  Have  you  not,  then,  evidently  enlarged  your 
"  belief "  of  their  "  understanding" — that  by  stretching  the  Doctor's  promise  he 
may  seem  to  have  broken  it? 

B. — I  "  simply  express  my  conviction,"  and  "  confine  myself  to  a  severe 
statement  of  dry  facts." 

G. — Do  you  mean  sly  guesses  and  inuendoes? 

B. — That  is  an  inuendo. 

G. — Yes  ;  but  it  is  also  a  "  fact,"  that  when  you  expected  the  Doctor  to  write 
to  a  particular  printer  you  were  thinking  only  of  his  special  engagement  with  that 
printer,  and  of  his  promise  to  agree  with  your  desire  that  he  would  not  reprint 
with  additions.  It  is,  therefore,  impossible  that  you  could  have  had  then  the 
interpretations  of  "the  general  understanding,"  which  you  now  state  "  severely" 
as  "  dry  facts." 

B. — This  amounts  to  doubting  my  word. 

G. — It  is  founded  on  your  xoords,  and  proves  that  you  "  are  not  very  clear  or 
connected,"  in  inferring  understandings  that  contradict  one  another. 

B. — I  distinctly  recollect  what  I  "thought"  to  be  "  the  general  understanding.'* 
11  The  case  is  not  only  not  cleared,  but  the  defence  breaks  down  in  every  part, 
and  the  whole  thing  comes  out  very  much  the  worse  for  comment  and  explana- 
tion."    (Preface.) 

G. — That  is  a  forcible  style  of  speaking,  but  a  feeble  way  of  answering.  Your 
best  plan  is  to  reiterate  your  statements,  not  noticing  whether  they  agree  with 
each  other,  and,  above  all,  speaking  with  a  dignified  contempt  of  "all  counter- 
statements  and  views."  There  are  some  who  will  take  it  for  granted  that  you 
are  right,  though  they  will  in  time  begin  to  wonder  that  you  do  not  make  it  as 
clear  in  argument  as  in  assertion. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  find  a  more  palpable  instance  of  changing 
a  great  controversy  into  a  little  personality  in  no  way  related  to  it, 


102 

whilst  the  scheme,  thus  foiled  and  exposed,  became  as  unfortunate 
for  its  managers  as  it  was  unworthy  of  their  position  and  pro- 
fessions. 

The  Nonconformist  and  the  Christian  Spectator  entered  much 
into  this  controversy,  and  while  secretly  sympathising  with  the 
Neology  that  was  exposed,  pretended  to  be  anxious  only  for  the 
spirit  in  which  the  truth  should  be  defended.  I  could  give  many 
grotesquely  atrocious  utterances  of  these  advocates  of  meekness 
towards  error,  and  exhibitors  of  "  utter  hatred"  towards  those  who 
honestly  exposed  it,  but  content  myself  here  with  another  dialogue, 
which  explains  itself  and  them.  The  conversation  is  between  a 
thorough  Independent  a  particular  Baptist,  and  the  editor  of  the 
Christian  Spectator  ;  it  is  to  expound  the  true  nature  of  liberty,  and 
shew  what  party  can  lay  claim  to  it.  The  speakers  are  marked  by 
their  initials. 

Thokough  Independent. — The  point  of  the  Nonconformist  is,  not  the  Tight- 
ness of  heterodox  opinions,  but  the  right  of  holding  them. 

P.  B. — And  the  right  of  opposing  them  ? 

T.  I.— Of  course. 

P.  B. — Then  what  do  you  complain  of? 

T.  I. — The  spirit  in  which  it  is  done,  of  course. 

P.B. — Bather  general,  and  the  usual  resort  of  people  whose  temper  fails  with 
their  argument,  and  who  think  it  must  be  a  very  bad  spirit  which  vexes  them. 
Can  you  give  us  a  specimen  which  excited  your  good-spirited  rebukes  ? 

T.I. — We  do  not  read  the  "  wash ;"  he  blusters  and  abuses,  and  sets  himself 
up  for  the  standard  of  theology. 

P.B. — And  you  set  yourself  down  for  none  ? 

T.I. — Not  of  theology,  of  course  ;  that  is  the  Nonconformist's  peculiarity  ;  it 
regulates  the  spirit  of  controversy. 

P.B. — Then  you  are  the  standard  of  good  temper  and  of  a  Christian  spirit  ? 

T.I. — That  is  what  we  profess  mainly  to  look  to. 

P.B. — And  display  it  by  accusing  others  of  the  want  of  it  ?  Cheap,  rather. 

T.I. — We  only  denounce  unfairness,  and  recommend  an  insinuating  gentleness. 

P.B. — Do  you  mean  in  the  "  Bloodhound"  article,  where  the  defenders  of 
orthodoxy  are  insinuatingly  represented  under  that  amiable  title,  and  the  hete- 
rodox described  as  "  runaways  ?"  Have  you  a  patent  for  this  ferocious; 
gentleness  ? 

,  T.I. — That  was  only  a  general  title  to  the  article,  it  was  not  directly  applied 
to  any-one. 

P.B.— Only  gently  insinuated?  This  is  the  charity  that  begins  and  keeps  «fc» 
home,  or  never  goes  over  the  threshold,  except  to  scold  everybody  into  a  good 
spirit. 

T.I. — This  is  banter,  and  leaving  the  question. 

P.B. — The  question  is  a  good  spirit ;  you  do  not  enter  into  theology,  and  you 
think  it  worse  to  display  a  bad  spirit  than  to  have  a  sorry  creed. 

T.  I. — Exactly ;  that  is  the  extent  of  our  assertion.  i 

P.  B. — Then  on  your  own  showing,  you  are  more  calumnious  than  the  ortho- 
dox whom  you  denounce.  •* 


103 

T.  I. — I  cannot  see  that ;  we  do  not  M  hound  a  man  down"  for  a  difference  in 
doctrinal  beliefs. 

P.  B. — Because,  you  see,  you  have  no  doctrinal  beliefs,  and  therefore  can- 
.  not  denounce  any  on  that  point — except  indirectly ;  but  if  you  have  a  weakness 
it  is  in  the  matter  of  temper ;  you  advocate  a  kindly  spirit. 

T.  I. — And  is  there  anything  to  be  said  against  that} 

P.  B — No  ;  only  it  would  be  as  well  to  display  it. 

T.  I.— So  we  do. 

P.  B. — Yes,  to  yourselves,  and  to  those  who  agree  with  your  creed — that 
gentle  ways  and  winning  methods  are  better  than  theology. 

T.  I. — But  how  are  we  more  calumnious  on  our  principles  than  those  whom 
we  accuse  ? 

P.  B. — Is  it  not  your  principle  that  a  good  spirit  is  more  than  a  good  creed? 
and  that  consequently  a  bad  spirit  is  worse  than  a  bad  creed  ? 

T.  I. — Yes,  and  is  not  this  true  ? 

P.  B. — It  may  be  ;  but  if  so  you  are  the  greater  calumniators ;  for  Dr. 
Campbell  and  his  orthodox  friends  attack  only  men's  false  creed,  which  you  say 
is  a  slight  matter',  whereas  you  attack  their  "spirit  and  moral  character,''  which 
you  say  is  of  more  consequence  ;  so  it  is  you  who  are  the  "  Bloodhounds,"  though 
you  know  Dr.  Campbell  is  not  among  the  '•  Runaways.''''  I  hope  you  see  now, 
that  on  your  own  showing  your  party  is  the  more  calumnious,  because  it  attacks 
what  it  considers  a  more  vital  part  in  a  man's  reputation — his  spirit  or  moral 
character. 

T.  I. — But  you  must  confess  that  Dr.  Campbell  is  very  bitter  against  those 
who  differ  from  him. 

P.  B. — I  believe  he  is  very  bitter  to  them  ;  not  against  them.  Is  it  true,  that 
when  the  editor  of  your  paper  was  condemned  in  costs  and  damages  for  a  libel, 
and  likely  to  lose  a  thousand  pounds,  Dr.  Campbell,  who  had  had  many  a 
brush  with  him,  went  straight  to  him,  and  declared  he  should  not  lie  under  this 
loss  ?  Did  the  Doctor  then  show  his  bitterness  further  by  calling  a  meeting, 
presiding  over  it,  and  raising  a  large  sum  to  relieve  his  general  opponent  ?  Have 
you  ever  seen  anything  like  this  on  the  other  side?  Is  not  "  bloodhounds"  the 
answer?  I  would  rather  lose  this  right  hand  than  join  in  a  personal  fight 
against  a  man  who  had  proved  a  generous  opponent,  when  generosity  was  scarce 
and  was  needed.  [Exit  T.  I. 

Editor  Christian  Spectator. — Well,  but,  friend,  this  has  nothing  to  do 
with  public  matters. 

P.  B. — But  it  shows  who  has  the  right  spirit.  And  as  to  public  matters,  you 
of  course  are  liberal  ? 

C.  S. — That  is  our  creed  ;  we  started  for  a  liberalizing  of  religion,  +  and  free 
discussion  of  matters  excluded  from  the  ordinary  religious  magazines. 

P.  B. — Do  you  remember  a  series  of  articles  on  "  Cant  Terms,"  in  which  you 
ridiculed  phrases  used  by  "  the  holiest  members  of  Christ's  body  on  earth  ?" 

C.  S. — We  did  not  ridicule  them,  we  only  criticised  them. 

P.  B. — Do  you  remember  refusing  to  let  a  Baptist  Minister  criticise  the  cant 
terms  and  Carlylcisms  of  your  articles  on  humble  Christian  dialect  ? 

C.  S.— No. 

+  This  Christian  Spectator  is  being  revived  this  year  by  the  liberal  publisher, 
who  suppressed  my  pamphlet  on  Gladstone,  and  wrote  me  "a  threatening  letter  for 
having  as  heretofore  used  his  name  as  my  publisher.  I  mean  Mr.  Elliott 
Stock,  of  Paternaster-row. 


104 

P.  B. — Well,  I  saw  the  correspondence,  and  then  learned  practically,  that 
your  review  was  liberal  to  the  liberals,  but  insolent  and  offensive  to  those  whose 
language,  though  by  you  called  "  cant  terms,"  is  as  true  to  them,  and  more  pro- 
found, than  all  the  terms  in  which  you  canted  against  them.  [Exit  C.  S. 

Mr.  Lynch  himself  lays  down  a  safe  principle  by  which  to  judge 
of  the  real  spirit  of  these  men  ;  for  in  reviewing  "  the  controversy" 
in  that  organ  ludicrously  styled  The  Christian  Spectator,  he  both 
accounts  for  the  origin  of  that  title  by  contrast  with  its  character, 
and  also  explains  the  titles  by  which  men  of  a  like  spirit,  denomi- 
nate themselves  and  their  party;  for  he  says: — "I  know  not 
whether  the  reader  has  ever  observed,  as  I  have,  a  singular  antago- 
nism of  pretension  and  character.  The  few  people  whom  I  have 
known  to  obtrude  love  in  their  discourse  have  all  been  either  stingy 
or  ill-natured.  And  I  have  heard  of  a  most  unjust  man  who  had 
continually  in  his  mouth  the  words  "  Fiat  justitia  mat  caelum."* — 
(Christian  Spectator,  November  1856,  page  699.) 

The  abuse  which  people  heap  on  you  when  you  have  both  con- 
vinced and  convicted  them,  is  equally  well  explained  by  this  writer 
in  the  same  article  : 

"Demons  shriek  loudest  when  they  are  departing  from  their 
victims.  Let  us  not  think  that  vaunt  and  calumny  and  Phariseeism 
are  conquering  because  they  cry.  They  cry  because  they  are  over- 
come."—(p.  708.) 

How  this  liberal  party  in  theology  cried  "  because  it  was  over- 
come" by  the  Morning  Advertiser  articles  which  forced  the  fifteen- 
voiced  cry  of  the  "protest;"  and  Dr.  Campbell's  Banner  articles, 
which  hushed  it  by  crushing  them  ;  and  "  What's  it  all  about  ?" 
that  swept  the  smoke  off  the  field  and  showed  the  dire  condition  of 
the  vanquished,  may  be  seen  by  a  few  specimen  illustrations. 

Mr.  Lynch  took  a  prose  revenge,  in  a  work  called  "  Ethics  of 
quotation,"  which  I  "  quoted  to  death"  and  as  he  signed  it  "  Silent 
Long,"  I  taught  him  the  wisdom  of  being  Silent  Longer.  He  also 
published  a  poetical  revenge,  called  "  Songs  Controversial,"  which 
nobody  could  sing. 

However  this  greatly  delighted  Professor  Godwin,  of  New  College, 
who,  as  we  shall  see  in  the  next  chapter,  took  lessons  in  Neology  at 
the  feet  of  Silent  Long;  it  was  said  he  greatly  enjoyed  the  recita- 
tions of  Mr.  Lynch's  second  poetical  effusion,  which  recitations 
were  sweetly  given  at  a  nocturnal  seance  held  at  the  Rev.  Newman 

*  "  Do  justice,  though  the  heavens  should  fall."  This  was  histrionically 
repeated  by  a  Rev.  Doctor  at  Cheltenham,  as  the  climax  of  an  appeal,  after  the 
most  grotesque  distortions  called  "  facts"  about  the  poor  Irish  Church. 


105 

Hall's  residence,  where  a  live  Dean  has  since  been  exhibited.  This 
exhibition  may  perhaps  come  in  at  the  proper  chronological  stage 
of  our  history  :  it  excited  great  delight  and  chagrin,  delight  on  the 
part  of  the  gentleman  who  entertained  his  company  with  this  vara 
(iris,  and  chagrin  on  the  part  of  one  who  is  generally  the  lion 
himself. 

The  protesting  party  was  however  ashamed  of  publicly  endorsing 
"  Songs  Controversial,"  but  took  great  interest  in  circulating  the 
prose  revenge,  called  "  Ethics  of  Quotation."  The  following 
advertisement  appeared  at  the  time,  and  among  other  papers,  in 
The  Freeman  : — "  The  Rivulet  Controversy. — At  a  committee  of 
gentlemen  held  at  the  Milton  Club,  on  Monday  evening,  October  27, 
1856,  it  was  moved  by  Edward  Miall,  Esq.,  M.P.,  seconded  by 
the  Rev.  Basil  Cooper,  B.A.,  and  unanimously  resolved — That 
this  committee  deem  it  expedient  and  right  to  give  the  widest  cir- 
culation to  the  '  Ethics  of  Quotation,'  by  Silent  Long,  published 
in  reply  to  the  charges  brought  against  the  Rev.  T.  T.  Lynch, 
(i.e.  Silent  Long,)  by  the  editor  of  the  British  Banner.  Donations 
in  aid  of  this  object  will  be  received  by  the  treasurer,  &c." 

In  addition  to  this,  various  attempts  were  made  to  expel  the 
British  Banner  from  the  reading  rooms  of  societies  ;  and  the  Non- 
conformist (Nov.  19th,  1856)  did  not  scruple  to  insert  "  a  good 
example  "  of  this  sort,  namely,  a  manifesto  of  bigotry,  "  which  was 
going  the  rounds  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association"  at 
Plymouth  "for  signature."  "  The  correspondent"  who  sent  a  copy  of 
this  to  the  congenial  editor  observed,  "  It  may  possibly  give  the  '  cue ' 
in  other  localities  for  similar  action,  discountenancing  unscrupulous 
bigotry  [he  was  exhibiting  it]  to  serve  the  cause  of  truth."  These 
are  the  terms  in  which  such  men  describe  their  methods  of  persecu- 
tion for  orthodox  opinions.  I  am  happy  to  say  that  the  bigots  were 
beaten,  and  that  the  Banner  continued  to  wave  over  the  table  of 
the  society  in  question.  But  this  is  the  "  cue"  of  our  more  liberal- 
minded  pharisaical  Sadducees. 

The  Rev.  S.  M'All,  then  of  Nottingham,  now  of  Hackney  College, 
London,  having  sided  with  Dr.  Campbell,  a  meeting  of  "  ten"  was 
got  up  in  Nottingham  to  protest  against  that  gentleman's  opinions 
and  warn  people  not  to  adopt  them.  This  impudent  personal  attack 
was  thus  admitted  into  the  Nonconformist,  which  was  trying  to  draw 
out  of  the  affair  : — "  Although  you  announce  your  intention  to  insert 
no  more  letters  on  the  '  Rivulet  Controversy,'  we  trust  you  will  give 
us  permission  to  express  in  your  columns  our  extreme  regret  that 
one  of  our  ministers,  the  Rev.  S.  M'All,  has  felt  it  right  to  place 

E 


10G 

himself  at  the  side  of  Dr.  Campbell."  This  great  meeting  of  ten, 
like  the  clique  of  "the  Fifteen,"  says,  "  It  is  not  for  us  to  discuss 
the  theological  questions  involved  in  this  controversy;"  and  then 
having  confessed  their  incompetency,  which  was  not  necessary,  like 
"the  Fifteen,"  they  decide  that  Mr.  Lynch  was  theologically  sound, 
which  supported  their  estimate  of  their  capacity.  Having  said,  as 
most  bitter  persons  do  when  about  to  say  something  offensive  and 
impertinent,  that  "  the  truth  should  be  spoken  in  love,"  they  go 
on  to  contradict  the  truth,  and  display  their  love  by  begging  "  very 
earnestly  and  respectfully  to  guard  friends  throughout  the  country 
against  the  error  of  supposing"  that  Dr.  Campbell  has  more  than 
one  friend  in  Nottingham.  This  liberal  trash  was  of  course  accepted 
by  the  Nonconformist,  especially  as  "we  enclose  five  pounds  in  aid 
of  the  fund  for  distributing  the  'Ethics  of  Quotation,'  and  are  Sir, 
yours,  William  Cripps,  chairman."  Mr.  Miall  not  only  inserted 
this  attack  on  a  minister  for  a  free  opinion,  but  added  this  note : — 
V  The  letter  to  which  reference  is  made  in  the  above  communication 
appeared  in  the  British  Banner.  Mr.  M'All  quotes  various  de- 
tached passages  from  Mr.  Lynch's  '  Ethics '  with  a  view  of  showing 
hat  he  is  not  sound  on  the  question  of  the  atonement.  We  only 
notice  Mr.  M'All's  letter,  to  make  the  above  communication  intelli- 
gible to  our  readers  ;  otherwise  we  should  have  deemed  it  beneath 
-ur  notice. — [Ed.  Nonconformist.]  " 

Now  if  this  editor  did  regard  the  rev.  gentleman's  letter  as  "  be- 
neath notice,"  why  did  he  insert  a  protest  against  it  which,  to  be 
intelligible,  necessitated  this  "  notice  ?"  The  editor  refutes,  contra- 
dicts, and  condemns  himself  in  this  hysterical  affectation  of  contempt. 
The  ~ame  Mr.  Cripps,  of  Nottingham,  referred  in  his  letter  to  the 
"  disgraceful  special  pleading  of  Mr.  Brewin  Grant:"  and  when  I 
wrote  asking  him  "  to  point  out  what  parts  of  the  pamphlet"  he  "so 
designated,"  he  replied  that  he  "  would  gladly  comply,  but  then  it 
would  involve  the  necessity  of  transcribing  almost  the  whole  :"  but 
when  told  that  he  was  asked  "  to  point  out,  not  to  write  out"  the 
offending  passages,  so  that  he  might  now  "  gladly  comply"  by  mark- 
ing the  parts  on  the  margin,  he  said,  "  you  ask  me  to  point  out 
'passages:'  this  is  all  nonsense.  It  is  not  a  question  of  parts  and 
passages  ;  one  part  is  so  connected  with  and  dependent  on  another, 
that  to  select  would  not  be  to  make  a  fair  exhibition  of  the  spirit 
and  contents  of  the  whole  !" 

This  is  the  way  with  them;  when  they  come  to  "  select"  they 
meet  a  line  of  bristling  bayonets,  and  because  they  cannot  touch  a 
part,  they  "cry"   out  about    "  the  spirit  of  the  whole."     But  this 


107 

gentleman,  not  satisfied  with  confessing  my  logical  connectedness 
and  impregnable  position,  had  the  audacity  to  write  and  say  : — "  I 
am  told  you  got  twenty  pounds  for  writing  that  book :"  and  when 
I  asked  him  who  told  him  that  I  "  got  twenty  pounds,"  he  was  like 
all  these  base  traducers  of  honourable  men — silent. 

The  Nonconformist,  whose  pages  this  Mr.  Ceipps  so  suitably 
adorned,  gave  the  following  notice  "  To  correspondents.  An  ad- 
mirer of  Grant  almost  tempts  us  to  deviate  from  the  line  which  our 
judgment  [he  means  "  our  cowardice"]  has  laid  down,  for  the  treatment 
of  that  gentleman."  In  other  words  his  "  judgment  had  laid  down 
the  line"  of  silence,  as  his  only  safety  ;  but  he  was  so  troubled  that 
he  was  near  committing  himself  by  the  infelicity  and  temerity  of 
pretending  to  deal  with  anything  said  by  "  that  gentleman."  The 
witty  element  of  this  correspondent's  letter  was  the  suggestion  that 
"  Dignity  and  Impudence*'  should  be  put  as  the  heading  of  the 
dialogue  between  me  and  Mr.  Binney.     I  advised  them  to  try  it. 

About  the  same  time  another  respectable  number,  "  The  Forty," 
met  at  Norwich,  to  steal  Dr.  Campbell's  reputation,  and  to  get  him 
turned  out  of  his  situation  as  editor  of  magazines  in  connection  with 
the  Congregational  Union ;  by  which  papers  he  had  by  amazing 
industry  and  vigour  accumulated  large  funds  for  widows  !  These 
"  Forty,"  who  advertised  themselves  as  if  comprising  two  large  con- 
gregations, were  assembled  by  private  circular.  Mr.  J.  H.  Tillett, 
the  great  Norwich  "  Liberal,"  figured  in  this  persecution  meeting. 

The  perpetual  annoyances  to  which  Dr.  Campbell  was  exposed 
from  the  friends  of  freedom  to  persecute  any  who  differed  from  them 
led  him  to  announce  a  really  free  paper,  The  British  Standard, 
saying  that  "  for  the  exigencies  of  these  times"  "  he  must  be 
entirely  independent  of  all  proprietary  bodies,  committees,  and  con- 
tractors, and  rest  exclusively  on  the  direct  support  of  his  own  nu- 
merous friends  and  the  friends  of  truth,  of  every  section  of  the 
church  throughout  Great  Britain."  Right  nobly  did  he  fill  his  task, 
and  right  heartily  was  he  seconded,  but  no  thanks  to  the  Norwich 
Forty,  and  their  gentle  abettors,  the  pretentious  friends  of  specula- 
tive freedom  ! 

The  "  amiable"  Mr.  Lynch,  addressing  the  Congregational  Union 
in  his  introduction  to  "  Ethics  of  Quotation,"  wrote  in  the  following 
delirious  style  : — 

"  Your  editor  is  a  person  whom  no  Christian  society  can  retain  as 
their  representative  without  incurring  the  reproach  of  being  utterly 
careless  about  the  Christian  principles  which  should  govern  the  us© 
of  tongue  and  pen." 
e  2 


108 

As  a  specimen  of  those  "  Christian  principles  which  governed"  his 
"  pen"  he  said  : — 

"  Murder  is  murder,  even  though  it  is  Mr.  Lynch  that  is  killed. 
Reputations  may  be  killed  as  well  as  lives,"  and  he  goes  on  to  sug- 
gest that — "  the  end  maybe  that  the  murderer's  own  reputation 
may  be  '  shot'  with  due  military  dishonour  amid  public  abhorrence." 

"You  have  evidence  enough  before  you  to  warrant  you  hence- 
forth to  disown  the  editor  of  the  British  Banner  as  your  editorial 
representative." 

This  was  the  sort  of  thing  that  Mr.  Miall  conspired  with  others 
to  circulate  gratuitously,  in  the  interests  of  freedom,  truth,  and 
love, — and  all  that  ! 

"  It  may  be,"   concludes  the  gentle  author  of   "  the  Rivulet," 
"  you  will  see  that  your  editor,  being  the  foe  of  truth,  is  the  foe  of 
Christ,"   so  he  advised  the  Union   "  indignantly  and  peremptorily' 
to    "  repudiate"    the  Doctor.      This  class  of  men  has  now  the 

ASCENDANT    IN    CONGREGATIONAL  UNIONISM. 

Dr.  Campbell  has  gone  to  his  reward,  and  we  have  no  organ  of 
opinion  that  would  admit  of  any  criticism  of  the  present  heresy  and 
despotism. 

The  immediate  results  of  "the  controversy"  was  that  the  publi- 
cations of  one  of  "  the  Fifteen"  subsided  considerably  ;  and  he  had 
to  make  earnest  protestations  about  "the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus" 
— which  no  doubt  he  and  the  other  protestors  regard  as  a  passage 
of  Scripture,  and  so  give  it  as  a  quotation.  The  oldest  of  "  the 
Fifteen"  was  said  to  have  tried  three  hydropathic  establishments, 
and  not  getting  cool,  tried  change  of  air  in  Australia,  and  returned 
improved  in  everything  but  temper :  for  when  asked  by  one  who 
had  spoiled  his  "facts,"  to  officiate  in  his  church  on  a  public 
occasion,  this  rare  opportunity  generously  offered,  for  showing  mag- 
nanimity, was  taken  advantage  of  to  display  that  petulance  which 
is  the  distinguishing  mark  of  those  who  ostentatiously  write  only 
for  "  Christian  gentlemen." 

However,  I  got  well  rewarded  for  my  temerity  on  this  occasion, 
by  subsequent  opportunities  afforded  to  the  "protestors"  of  remem- 
bering me  ;  a  circumstance  which  throws  a  light  on  many  otherwise 
dark  passages  in  their  career. 

Namq;  hoc  tempore, 

Obsequium,  amicos,  Veritas  odium,  parit. 


109 

Chapter  XI. 
WHAT  IS  NEGATIVE  THEOLOGY,  and  what  does  it  lead  to  ? 
or,  the  Transition  Period  from  "Baptism  in  the  Rivulet" 
to  New  College  "  Christian  Faith,"  1856. 

The  preceding  chapter  explains  the  origin  and  general  course  of 
the  "  Rivulet  Controversy."  This  is  to  exhibit  the  real  theological 
sentiments  and  tendencies  of  the  party  of  progress :  the  religious 
doctrines,  if  they  may  be  called  so,  which  this  class  of  free  enquirers 
entertains  and  favours. 

The  Rev.  Newman  Hall,  to  the  last  of  the  conflict,  stood  sponsor 
for  Mr.  Lynch's  substantial  orthodoxy.  Thus,  in  a  letter  to  the 
Nonconformist,  Dec.  3rd,  1856,  he  wrote  : — "  While  I  do  not  pledge 
myself  to  all  his  utterances,  while  the  style  in  which  I  preach  the 
gospel  differs  greatly  from  that  which  he  thinks  proper  to  adopt, 
I  repeat  my  conviction  that  he  is  a  sincere  believer  in  the  funda- 
mental articles  of  the  Christian  faith."  "  The  Fifteen "  in  their 
"protest"  said  that  they  have  "frequent  opportunities  of  meeting 
him  in  close  Christian  intercourse,"  that  they  "  love  him  as  a 
Christian  brother,  and  hold  him  in  high  honour  as  one  who,  by 
severe  and  patient  thought,  has  gained  great  knowledge  of  that  truth 
which  is  held  in  common  by  all  evangelical  churches,  '  the  truth  as 
it  is  in  Jesus.'  " — ("  Protest.") 

Now  let  us  see  : — "  Speaking  after  the  manner  of  men,  how 
daringly  does  God  manage  the  world  !  How  can  He — how  will  He 
solve  the  doubts  and  satisfy  the  yearnings  of  all  the  good,  and  make 
the  saved  world  see  of  the  travail  of  its  soul  with  full  satisfaction  ?  " 
—(Ethics  19.) 

This  '•'  daring"  description  of  the  Almighty's  management,  in  which 
it  is  implied  that  the  Governor  of  the  Universe  went  to  the  extreme 
verge  of  what  public  opinion  would  allow,  and  so  made  it  difficult 
to  secure  the  moral  approbation  of  these  reverential  critics,  prepared 
the  way  for  Mr.  Godwin's  method  of  man  being  "  reconciled  to  God 
by  the  death  of  His  Son,"  in  the  sense  of  being  no  longer  alienated 
by  the  "  daring  management"  of  Providence,  which  is  now  cleared 
up,  since  "the  saved  world"  sees,  in  the  reward  which  Jesus  re- 
ceived, ground  to  expect  the  same  reward  for  "  the  travail  of  its 
soul." 

The  same  passage  also  prepared  for  Mr.  Godwin's  new  way  oi 
salvation  "by  the  service  of  suffering  ; "  that  is,  not  of  Christ's 
sufferings,  but  our  own,  which  are  to  be  equally  handsomely  rewarded. 

In  the  same  "  Ethics  of  Quotation"  (29),  we  read  that.  "We 
e  3 


110 

must  know  Christ  by  becoming  'one  spirit'  with  Him."  "This 
is  not  the  propositional  knowledge  of  the  head,  but  the  experimental 
knowledge  of  the  total  humanity" — (29.)  This  "experimental  know- 
ledge of  the  total  humanity"  is  beyond  any  individual  capacity  to 
experience  or  to  understand  ;  while  this  depreciation  of  "the  pro- 
positional  knowledge  of  the  head"  wa*s  the  provision  for  Professor 
Godwin's  belief  in  Christ  as  a  person,  apart  from  any  "  propositions" 
about  Him. 

The  same  writer,  still  in  the  character  of  "  Silent  Long,"  says, 
"He  [Mr.  Lynch,]  has  often  found  that  'heresy'  is  the  precursor 
of  spiritual  insight,  and  'orthodoxy'  a  cloak  for  transgression,  and 
a  whited  sepulchre,  full  of  dead  men's  bones." — ("  Ethics,"  34.) 

These  wicked  orthodox  people  are  called  upon  to  repent  for 
their  sin  against  Mr.  Lynch  in  the  following  graphic  fashion  : — 

Some  of  you  Independents  have  subscribed  money  to  circulate  Dr.  Campbell's 
pamphlets.  It  is  the  price  of  blood.  The  Lord  will  make  inquisition  for  blood. 
The  blood  of  innocency  is  in  your  skirts ;  it  stains  your  purses,  ye  men  rich  in 
cash,  but  poor  in  faith  and  charity.  Kepent,  and  do  works  meet  for  repen- 
tance (p.  29). 

This  is  a  solemn  burlesque  of  the  words  respecting  Judas  and 
the  price  of  betrayal — i  it  is  the  price  of  blood'  (Matt,  xxvii.  6). 
And  the  other  passages  of  Scripture  (Ps.  ix.  12,  Jer.  ii.  34)  are 
either  intended  to  convey  the  most  atrocious  accusations,  or  are  the 
most  ridiculous  abuse  of  Bible  language.  The  '  works  meet  for 
repentance'  are,  of  course,  beginning  to  subscribe  for  the  gratuitous 
circulation  of  this  gratuitous  absurdity,  called  '  Ethics  of  Quotation.' 
'Repentance,'  demanded  by  Mr.  Lynch,  is  to  be  followed  by 
1  baptism'  in  his  Rivulet. 

Well  were  it  if  the  critic  who  has,  in  the  waters  of  Marah — the  bitter  waters 
of  controversy — baptized  Mr.  Lynch  with  this  false  name  [Destroyer]  would 
repent,  and  suffering  himself  to  be  baptized  in  the  Eivulet,  hear,  and  that 
to  his  good,  a  sermon  from  Mr.  Lynch  (p.  17). 

As  a  forerunner  of  the  new  gospel,  Mr.  Lynch  consistently  invited 
men  to  a  baptism  of  repentance,  after  telling  people  pretty  plainly 
how  much  they  needed  it  on  account  of  their  orthodox  rebellion. 
But  the  height,  or  perhaps  depth,  of  this  wickedness  can  be  seen 
only  in  the  following  solemn  warning  which  "this  contemptible  and  yet 
singular  young  man,"  (25)  as  he  affectedly  calls  himself,  addressed 
to  one  of  his  presumptuous  critics  : — "  Oh  !  Doctor  Campbell, 
beware  lest,  in  maligning  the  stranger  [Mr.  Lynch]  whom  you  despise, 

YOU  BLASPHEME  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT  OF  God"    (p.  7). 

It  is  painful  to  transcribe  such  blasphemy  ;  but  it  is  necessary  in 
order  to  show  what  kind  of  doctrines  and  language  the  more  elite 


Ill 

and  pretentiously  intellectual  of  our  ministers  fostered,  and  for 
which  Mr.  Miall,  of  the  Nonconformist,  "deemed  it  expedient"  to 
secure  a  wide  gratuitous  circulation,  out  of  mere  love  of  good  taste 
in  controversy,  which  he  affects  and  violates  more  than  any  jour- 
nalist in  the  kingdom. 

The  unhealthy  and  profane  comparisons  by  which  Mr.  Lynch 
perpetually  likens  himself  to  our  Saviour,  and  likens  ckiticisji  to 
crucifixion,  is  seen  in  his  observations  on  a  proposal  for  arbitration 
between  Dr.  Campbell  and  Mr.  Binney,  which  is  likened  to  a  com- 
promise by  which  the  cross  might  have  been  avoided.  As  in  the 
Christian  Spectator,  Nov.,  1856,  Mr.  Lynch,  in  his  "  Eeview  of  the 
Controversy,"  wrote  : — 

"  Perhaps  the  cross,  after  all,  was  not  necessary.  Perhaps  troth  and  lies  might 
have  settled  matters  by  '  arbitration.'  Perhaps  the  universe  is  or  ought  to  be 
governed  by  '  accommodations.'  Perhaps  the  sad  story  of  the  '  Master '  is  a 
warning  to  us  not  to  be  ;  righteous  overmuch.'  Perhaps  the  Lord  was  not  con- 
ciliatory enough  to  the  Pharisees,  and  might  have  escaped  by  a  little  '  compro- 
mise.' Perhaps  there  were  '  errors  on  all  sides  ;'  and  if  Caiaphas  after  the 
Crucifixion  had  sent  for  Peter,  given  him  a  '  situation,'  and  married  him  to  the 
'  maid  that  kept  the  door,'  there  might  have  been  no  Christianity !" 

This  is  comparing  small  things  to  great,  as  a  way  of  making  great  things 
small ;  as  a  matter  of  taste  it  is  negatively  theological ;  as  a  question  of  perso- 
nality it  is  a  hit  at  Mr.  Binney,  who  said  there  had  been  "  errors  on  all  sides." 

"  The  maid  that  kept  the  door"  might  possibly  have  brought  an  action  against 
Peter  for  bigamy,  if  Mr.  Lynch's  ludicrous  "  perhaps"  had  been  carried  out. 
Whether,  if  Peter  had  got  a  second  wife  and  a  good  "  situation,"  we  should  have 
had  "  no  Christianity"  is  a  question  we  have  not  to  decide  ;  but  that  with  Mr. 
Lynch's  method  there  soon  would  be  no  intelligent  belief  in  Christianity  is 
evident. 

Again  he  says : — 

"  The  Union  was  content,  Pilate -like,  to  scourge  me  and  let  me  go  (!). 
They  did  not  wish  to  press  matters  to  extremities.  But  then,  why  should  I  be 
scourged  ?  Why  should  I  be  beaten  openly  uncondemned  by  any  lawful 
authority  ;  nay,  after  having  been  justified  and  honoured  by  such  authority  ? 
The  firmest  front  should  have  been  shoicn  against  Dr.  Campbell's  whole  pro- 
cedure. It  was  not.  And  in  this — I  say  it  regretfully  and  respectfully — Mr. 
Binney.  I  think,  teas  not  '  himself  "  (p.  701). 

It  is  this  constant,  profane  egotism,  this  poetical  licence  of  an  irreverent  taste, 
in  putting  himself  in  Christ's  place,  likening  all  his  negative  controversies  to  the 
scourging  and  crucifixion  of  the  Redeemer,  which  shocks  all  decency,  and  plainly 
indicates  the  tendency  of  such  writers  to  diminish  the  greatness  of  Christ's  work 
and  sufferings,  and  to  exaggerate  their  own.  They  reverse  that  saying,  "  He 
must  increase,  I  must  decrease,''  and  practically  say,  "  We  must  increase,  He 
must  decrease." 

The  like  absurdity,  bordering  on  blasphemy,  is  displayed  in  the  following 
sentence,  where,  praising  Mr.  Binney,  he  says  : — "  He  has  been  strong,  and  oj 
his  '  FCLNESS '  many  have  received"  (p.  702).  This  shocking  comparison  is 
founded  on  John  i.  14—17;  "And  we  beheld  his  glory."  "  full  of  grace  and 
truth ;".  "  and  of  his  fulness  have  we  all  received." 


112 

•'We  must  believe  in  ourselves  (says  this  theologian)  because  we  believe  in 
Emmanuel — God  with  us"  (709).  This  is  the  transition  stage — a  border  dialect 
— removing  our  neighbours  land-marks,  so  that  orthodoxy  is  gradually  led  into 
heterodoxy  by  the  sliding  scale  of  varying  senses.  "  Emmanuel — God  with  us," 
a  reason  for  "  believing  in  ourselves ;"  "because  (!)  He  is  v,l-h  us"  (!) 

This  extraordinary  "  fulness"  of  Mr.  Binney,  and  "  believing  in 
ourselves,"  was  the  dawn  of  the  new  "  Christian  faith"  in  Professor 
Godwin.  The  same  Silent  Long,  quoting  his  own  "  Letters  to  the 
Scattered,"  says  : — "  The  good  moral  effect  of  punishment  on  the 
man,  the  effect  upon  his  character  as  distinguished  from  his  actions, 
is  greatly  due  to  his  recognition  that  the  vengeance  was  a  right 
thing."  "  The  penalty  must  be,  as  thank  God  it  is,  administered 
redemptively."  In  fact  the  place  of  torment,  if  there  be  one,  is 
simply  a  reformatory,  so  far  as  this  theologian  teaches.  Mr. 
Godwin  afterwards  founds  the  "  forgiveness  of  sin"  on  the  distinction 
between  "  character  and  actions,"  as  stated  by  Mr.  Lynch. 

We  have  already  seen  Mr.  Binney  described  as  "  strong,  and 
of  his  '  fulness'  many  have  received ;"  and  this  "  free  handling  "  of 
the  Gospel  of  God  concerning  His  Son  is  exercised  in  another  sacred 
direction,  as  Dr.  Campbell  was  thus  warned: — "Beware  lest  in 
maligning  '  the  stranger'  [that  is,  criticising  Mr.  Lynch's  new  theo- 
logy] you  blaspheme  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God."  This  also  was  a 
preparation  for  Mr.  Godwin's  theory  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is  a 
good  disposition  in  human  souls !  Hence  to  contend  against  Neology 
is  to  despise  the  inward  light  of  these  new  prophets. 

I  know  that  many  persons  will  be  shocked  on  reading  these  things ; 
nor  do  I  wonder  :  for  if  these  almost  blasphemous  perversions  of 
Scripture  are  not  proofs  of  a  new  revelation  in  our  modern  thinkers, 
Those  deepest  speculation  is  a  daring  if  not  dexterous  juggling  with 
language,  at  least  this  exposure  will  reveal  a  state  of  things  for 
which  outsiders  are  not  at  all  prepared,  and  of  which  many  in  our 
denomination  are  ignorant,  though  I  exposed  them  ten  years  ago. 
I  was  not  answered  then  and  never  shall  be ;  but  I  was  abused,  and 
I  hope  I  always  shall  be  by  the  same  parties. 

The  Rev.  Newman  Hall,  in  his  letter  to  the  Nonconformist,  Dec. 
3,  1866,  declaring  that  "  Mr.  Lynch  is  sound  in  the  fundamental 
articles  of  the  Christian  faith,"  warned  all  persons  that : — "  it  is 
not  by  harsh  dogmatical  censures,  it  is  not  by  intolerance  of  the 
free  thoughts  and  free  words  of  others,  still  less  by  abusive  epithets 
of  wilful  misrepresentation,  that  we  recommend  the  religion  of  love. 
The  wrath  of  man  worketh  not  the  righteousness  of  God."  It  would 
be  a  great  mercy  if  the  writer  of  this,  who,  in  the  very  act  was  re- 


113 

fleeting  on  other  people's  "  free  thoughts  and  free  words,"  were 
inspired  with  the  sentiment  which  he  so  wrathfully  recommends.  I 
have  never  received  any  answer  from  this  class  of  men  except 
"  abusive  epithets  and  wilful  misrepresentation,"  and  "  intolerance 
of"  my  "free  thoughts  and  words:"  there  is  nothing  in  which 
they  so  much  excel  as  in  "  the  wrath  of  man ;"  nothing  which  they 
more  unctiously  recommend,  than — "  speaking  the  truth  in  love." 

In  that  same  letter,  which  was  a  defence  of  Mr.  Lynch's  ortho- 
doxy, and  a  malevolent  diatribe  against  Dr.  Campbell,  for  criti- 
cising the  pretence,  Mr.  Newman  Hall,  speaking  of  one  whom 
he  represents  as  "  once"  a  "  friend,"  "  long  a  Christian  minister," 
"  many  years  my  elder,"  "  who  formerly  occupied  such  a  position 
of  esteem," — oils  his  razor  after  this  fashion  :  "  I  shall  endeavour 
to  do  it  in  a  spirit  of  meekness,  not  rendering  railing  for  railing, 
avoiding  all  harsh  expressions;"  then  after  the  most  virulent  abuse 
which  generally  follows  such  loving  protestations,  he  says  : — "  We 
(the  Fifteen)  do  not  simply  defend  ourselves  against  the  charge  of 
a  negative  religion.  "We  bring  that  charge  against  others ;  but  we 
bring  it  in  hue."  Of  course  !  And  the  charge  was,  that  whereas 
Dr.  Campbell  doubted  the  doctrinal  soundness  of  Mr.  Lynch,  this 
loving  critic  doubted  the  moral  character  of  the  orthodox  advocate. 
This  was  done  unblushingly  in  that  letter  which  professedly  repu- 
diated what  it  perfectly  exemplified. 

The  gentleman  whom  Mr.  Newman  Hall  defended  so  meekly 
against  the  proof  of  his  heresy,  himself  frankly  confessed  and  denied 
his  liability  to  the  charge.  Thus,  as  Silent  Long  in  "Ethics  of 
Quotation,"  he  says  : — "  Mr.  Lynch  is  not  the  commander  of  that 
scarecrow  army  of  perversions  to  which  Dr.  Campbell  gives  the 
name  of  negative  theology."  "  This  of  course,  here  and  now,  is  but 
my  assertion.      But  you  will    remember  that  some  of    our  most 

ESTEEMED    MINISTERS, Ml*.     SAMUEL  MARTIN,  Ml*.    NEWMAN    HALL, 

and  others, — bore  witness  (!)  to  the  ■  severe  and  patient  thought' 
by  which"  he  "had  sought,  and  as  seemed  to  them,  not  unsuc- 
cessfully, the  knowledge  of  the  truth.  Their  assertion  should  be 
evidence.  (But  it  was  not.)  To  you  personally  (Congregational 
Union)  I  presume  it  is.  It  was  no  kindly-meant  falsehood  that 
they  uttered,  but  sober  testimony  that  they  offered."  (!  !) 

Yet  in  the  same  pamphlet  in  which  he  denies  that  he  is  charge- 
able with  that  "  to  which  Dr.  Campbell  gives  the  name  of  negative 
theology,"  he  said  : — "  Scripture  appears  to  me  to  be  full  of 
what  Dr.  Campbell  calls  negative  theology,"  (p.  17.)  So 
that  if  he  believed  the  Scriptures,  he  was  a  negative  theologian  ;  and 


114 

if  he  did  not  believe  them  he  was  an  infidel, — which  is  much  the 
same. 

In  his  "  Review  of  the  Rivulet  Controversy,  Christian  Spectator, 
Nov.  1856," — a  month  before  Mr.  Newman  Hall  gave  a  second 
testimonial  (Nonconformist,  Dec.  3.)  to  his  orthodoxy, — Mr.  Lynch 
wrote  : — "  I  have  learnt  the  whole  trick  of  the  religious  newspapers. 
I  could  set  up  ODe  myself  if  I  were  only  wicked  enough."  This 
is  recorded  as  a  hint  for  Mr.  Miall,  of  the  Nonconformist,  and 
Mr.  Turberytlle,  of  the  English  Independent,  and  Mr.  Robert 
Leader,  of  the  Sheffield  Independent.  "The  religious  world  I 
abhor"  (p.  683  Christian  Spectator.) 

"  The  ■  religious  world,'  that  odious  compound,  must  yield  to 
analytic  spiritual  forces."  He  was  of  course  speaking  of  "  the 
Dissenting  world,"  of  which  again  he  asked,  in  Ethics  of  Quotation, 
(27-28)  :— "Has  he,  (Dr.  C.  like  me,  Mr.  L.)with  the  gentleman's 
heart  and  lineage,  borne  sorrowfully  with  '  Dissenting'  vulgarity,  for 
the  sake  of  Nonconformist  principle  ?"  This  was  too  meek,  patro- 
nising and  genteel.  But  to  proceed  with  his  Christian  Spectator 
"  Review" : — "  I  firmly  believe  that  religion,  in  many  self-styled 
Evangelicals,  is  no  better  than  a  blind  blaspheming  superstition." 
(685).  "  It  is  orthodoxy  itself  that  is  the  great  heretic.  Yes,  and 
in  the  full  sense  of  the  word,  orthodoxy  is  heretical."  (704.) 

"  Orthodoxy  is  often  a  mere  city  of  tombs,  and  its  angry  defenders, 
the  maniacs,  that  dwell  there,  and  who  cry  '  We  live  among  the 
tombs,  why  cannot  you  ?'  and  then  they  rush  on  us." — (705.)  Now 
I  do  not  see  why  such  a  man  should  object  to  join  his  fellow 
"  maniacs."  It  may,  however,  be  considered  rather  serious  that 
"some  of  our  most  esteemed  ministers"  take  a  liking  to  this  sort  of 
thing,  and  object  to  "  exorcism." 

"  The  propositions  of  our  creed,"  says  this  calm  theologian,  "must 
be  as  stone  steps  to  advance,  not  as  stone  cells  for  imprisonment ; 
cells  in  which  the  liege  servants  and  champions  of  great  liberty  lie 
manacled  like  felons." — (708.)  So  he  would  be  free.  His  "pro- 
positions" are  stepping-stones  to  cross  over,  and  "  advance"  from — 
but,  whither  ? — Why,  out  of  "  the  cell "  of  definite  religious  opinions, 
to  hold  to  which  is  to  be  "  manacled  like  felons."  This  is  the  one 
whom  the  truth  had  made  free  from  believing  in  it !  So  joyfully  did 
he  rest  in  "  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,"  which  "  by  severe  and  pa- 
tient thought"  he  had  found  to  be  his  sorrowful  imprisonment. 
How  far  he  and  his  "  Fifteen"  were  "  champions  of  great  liberty  " 
is  seen  in  the  great  liberties  they  take  with  scripture  and  common 
sense,  and  the  rights  of  free  criticism.    "  But  I  will  not,  oh  reader," 


115 

cries  he,  "  offer  to  you  any  creed  whatever  as  my  ultimatum,  or  as 
what  I  recommend  for  yours."  "  I  have  much  yet  to  say,  but  I 
must  not  now  say  more." — (708.)  "Well,  he  had  not  said  "  much," 
and  has  left  us  in  the  dark  as  to  where  he  was. 

But  Mr.  Newmas  Hall  knows  all  about  it.  In  that  fatal  letter, 
written  a  month  after  those  ravings  against  evangelical  orthodoxy, 
this  gentleman  speaks  of  "  heart  utterances  of  a  deep  spiritual  life," 
with  which  this  "  amiable  "  critic  refreshed  Mr.  Hall  and  other 
"  maniacs,"  as  he  went  to  "dwell  with  them  among  the  tombs." 
11  We  still  meet  for  prayer  and  religious  conversation,"  says  Mr. 
Hall,  though  the  leading  saint  in  this  paraded' exercise,  was  only 
applying  his  "analytic  forces"  to  "that  odious  compound,  the 
1  religious  world,'  "  in  the  course  of  this  "  religious  conversation." 
The  writer  of  that  extraordinary  letter  rebukes  our  unbelief  in  his 
testimony  as  to  the  gospel  according  to  the  "  Rivulet,"  saying  : — 
"  Instead  of  receiving  with  thankfulness  (!)  our  testimony  to  the 
soundness  of  Mr.  Lynch,  you  charge  heresy  not  only  on  him  but 
on  us  also."  This,  though  doubtless  dreadful  obduracy  on  the  part 
of  any  orthodox  freethinker,  could  scarcely  be  wondered  at  when 
Mr.  Hall  himself  not  only  received  such  deep  inspirations  from 
"  the  heart  utterances"  of  his  friend,  but  himself  fell  into  the  spiri- 
tual cant  of  his  client  against  "  propositional  knowledge,"  as  in  that 
very  letter  he  says,  "  The  kingdom  of  God  is  not  meat  and  drink, 
and  verbal  statements  of  doctrine,  and  the  shibboleths  of  even  an 
evangelical  PARTY,  not  doubtful  disputation  and  bitter  strife  about 
modes  of  utterance,  but  righteousness  and  peace  and  joy  in  the 
Holy  Ghost." — (Nonconformist,  Dec.  3,  1856.)  By  what  right  this 
commentator  thrust  his  "verbal  statements  of  doctrine,"  "modes 
of  utterance,"  "  and  even  the  shibboleths  of  an  evangelical  party," 
between  the  two  parts  of  the  Apostle's  statement  (Rom.  xiv.  17),  I 
never  could  tell.  It  is  certainly  an  interpolation  and  a  serious  vio- 
lation of  the  spirit  of  the  text  and  the  context,  which  is  not  to 
depreciate  doctrinal  purity  but  to  remove  ceremonial  scrupulosity. 
This  use  of  scripture  seems  to  me  to  be  an  abuse  of  it,  and  a  very 
dangerous  and  reprehensible  perversion. 

This  medley  of  "meats"  and  "doctrine,"  "  drink"  and  "the 
shibboleths  even  of  an  evangelical  party,"  is  more  profane  than 
witty,  and  is  certainly  no  special  mark  of  respect  to  that  Apostle, 
who  would  not  abandon  the  plain  "  verbal  statement  of  doctrines" — - 
since  there  are  no  other  statements  than  verbal  ones  : — nor  would 
the  apostle  muffle  up  the  denial  of  the  doctrines  under  the  equivo- 
cating phrase  "  modes  of  utterance  ;"  all  which  is  simply  an  affected 


116 

latitudinarianism ;  nor  would  he  insult  that  cross  which  he  preached, 
by  an  offensive  fling  at  "  the  shibboleths  of  even  an  evangelical  party." 
This  kind  of  trimming  is  an  attainment  beyond  that  earnest  and 
profound  Apostle  who  lived  only  to  exercise  his  "  modes  of  utter- 
ence,"  and  to  instruct  us  in  "  verbal  statements  of  doctrine." 

Mr.  Hall  might  well  find  it  necessary  to  hide  himself  behind  his 
Missionary  Sermon,  which  had  lately  been  done  into  a  book  to  show 
that  the  author  could  still  utter  "  the  shibboleth  of  an  Evangelical 
party." 

His  retreat  behind  that  sermon  to  escape  the  charge  of  heresy, — 
which  his  strange  use  of,  or  rather  parody  on,  Scripture,  seemed  to 
confirm, — shall  be  given  in  his  own  words,  out  of  that  letter : — 

If  you  suspect  them  [the  Protestors]  also,  you  can  easily  satisfy  your  doubts 
by  examining  their  works.  The  last  missionary  sermon  preached  at  Surrey 
Chapel  has  been  published  under  the  title  of  "  Sacrifice,"  and,  as  that  subject 
is  the  one  in  which,  of  all  others,  we  are  most  in  danger  of  a  negative  theology, 
you  can  readily  ascertain  whether  you  are  warranted  in  the  fear  that  Ichabod 
may  be  written  on  the  walls  of  Surrey  Chapel. 

But  what  is  the  value  of  this  sermon  on  "  Sacrifice,"  if  the  write* 
now  says  that  "  verbal  statements  of  doctrine  "  are  to  be  ranked 
with  the  indifferent  matters  of  "  meats  and  drink,"  and  to  be  de- 
nounced as  "shibboleths?"  This  question  may  be  answered  by 
Mr.  Hall,  or  his  friends,  when  he  again  joins  in  a  private  meeting  to 
sign  this  sentimental  effusion,  so  far  beyond  the  matter-of-fact 
verbal  utterances  of  St.  Paul : — 

"  Heart  of  Christ,  0  cup  viost  golden, 
Brimming  with  salvation's  wine." 

Of  this  and  similar  varieties  Mr.  Hall  assures  us : — 
I  had,  nevertheless,  in  private  meetings  for  ivorship,  much  enjoyed  singing 

several  of  its  [the  Rivulet's]  compositions,  which  breathe  a  deep-toned  spirituality, 

and  ought  to  be  taken  as  interpreters  of  all  the  rest. 

Permit  me  to  refer  you  to  No.  LXXV. — "  Heart  of  Christ,  0  cup,  &c." 

Now,  if  these  specimens  of  Rivulet  poetry  "  ought  to  interpret  all 
the  rest,"  so,  in  like  manner,  Mr.  Hall's  protestations  of  orthodoxy, 
even  in  his  "  missionary  sermon,"  are  to  be  interpreted  by  this 
negative  comment, — "  The  kingdom  of  God  is  not  meat  and  drink — 
not  verbal  statements  of  doctrine,  and  the  shibboleths  of  even  an 
Evangelical  party." 

For,  as  Mr.  Lynch's  style  takes  all  meaning  out  of  Scripture,  so 
this  absurd  comment  and  protestation  of  Mr.  Hall  falls  into  the 
same  course,  and  also  takes  away  all  logical  value  from  any  of  his 
"  verbal  statements,"  and  "  modes  of  utterance,"  to  which  he  may 
refer  us,  in  proof  of  his  still  holding  "  Evangelical  Shibboleths." 


117 

But  perhaps  he  will  require  us  to  adopt  his  own  method  of 
interpretation,  as,  in  the  same  unfortunate  letter,  he  repeats  Mr. 
Binney's  lesson,  saying — "  I  interpreted  the  book  by  what  I  knew 
of  the  man;"  and  adding,  "I  also  interpreted  the  book  by  what  the 
book  itself  contained."  This  last  method,  if  it  have  any  meaning,  is 
rather  original ;  but  in  the  same  letter  we  have  a  third  mode  of 
interpretation,  namely,  by  taking  "  several  of  its  compositions"  as 
"  interpreters  of  all  the  rest."  We  are  not  told  "  why  all  the  rest" 
should  not  be  the  interpreters  of  these  "  several "  favourites.  This 
see-saw  style  of  criticism  is  another  specimen  of  the  danger  we  are 
in  of  losing  all  logical  meaning  of  language  in  this  contempt  for 
"  propositional  knowledge,"  and  "  verbal  statements  of  doctrine." 
So  mystified  is  Mr.  Hall  that  he  has  already  three  canons  of  inter- 
pretation; first,  interpreting  books  by  their  authors;  second,  by 
what  the  books  themselves  contain;  and  thirdly,  interpreting  the 
greater  part  of  a  book  by  any  favourite  passages. 

This  author,  when  in  a  spirit  of  Christian  meekness,  trying  to  get 
the  Congregational  Union  to  turn  off  Dr.  Campbell  for  the  wicked- 
ness of  supporting  the  Evangelical  shibboleth,  put  the  matter  in 
this  dreadfully  effeminate  or  gushing  style  : — "  I  ask  the  members 
of  the  Congregational  Union  whether  they  feel  happy  in  being  repre- 
sented by  such  a  writer?"  Perhaps  the  "religious  world"  may 
have  some  qualms  on  the  subject  of  being  represented  by  that 
enquirer. 

I  will  at  least  give  this  gentleman  credit  for  logical  acuteness,  and 
a  variety  of  schemes  for  drawing  an  inference,  and  getting  at  the 
meaning  of  a  book;  especially  that  device  of  the  chief  of  "the 
Fifteen," — "  to  judge  of  the  book  by  the  man,"  by  which  Mr.  Hall 
said  he  had  the  extraordinary  felicity  of  "  seeing  in  it  many  things 
not  obvious  to  others," — because  they  were  not  there. 

This  preliminary  stage,  or  transitional  period,  of  negative  theology, 
to  be  developed  into  the  New  College  Dispensation,  may  thus  be 
summed  up : — 

Christ  is  God,  to  fight  with,  us,  and  for  us  ;  He  "  hleeds  with  us,  and  for  us." 
"  Thy  hlood  was  his,  his  hlood  was  thine."  All  specific  teaching  is  decried,  and 
the  Gkt.man  cloudland  advocated,  in  the  profession  that  our  knowledge  of 
Christ  is  "  not  the  propositional  knowledge  of  the  head,  hut  the  experimental 
knowledge  of  the  total  humanity.''  This  is  that  vague  rule,  "the  spirit  of  the 
age,"  which  is  a  sprite,  or  "Will-o'-the-wisp  dancing  over  a  hog.  Following  this 
unsteady  lamp,  our  Negationalist  plays  some  pranks  with  religious  phraseology 
— "  love  can  atone  the  selfish  ;  "  "  God  can  bring  from  the  dead  perishable  inno- 
cence, as  a  spirit  made  perfect ;"  "the  world  has  a  beauty  of  holiness,  and  a 
wisdom  of  holiness."  "  It  is  divine  in  itself;  "  we,  "  by  yielding  to  good,''  which 
means  anything  in  general,  "  enter  a  celestial  marriage  "  to  Swedenborgianism, 


118 

through  the  aid  of  this  Regenerator  of  Orthodoxy,  who  "  re-inspires  the  letter  of 
our  religious  speech"  with  irreligious  nonsense.  We  are  invited  to  a  feast  of  the 
new  moon,  as  "such  a  deliverance  from  darkness  "  as  lands  us  in  "full  lustre 
and  rule  of  the  night."  Our  teacher,  who  leads  us  into  the  dark,  brings  hell  into 
this  world,  "cools"  his  tongue  with  a  few  drops  "from  the  Psalms,"  and  so 
prepares  us  not  to  be  frightened  at  hell  in  the  next  world  ;  since  the  Rivulet  can 
quench  it,  aided  by  Letters  to  the  Scattered.  All  belonging  to  Mr.  Lynch  is 
increased,  and  Christ  is  decreased.  Is  the  Saviour  crucified,  so  is  Mr.  Lynch, 
with  "heavy  hammer  and  blunt  nails  ;"  was  Christ  scourged  by  Pilate,  so  is  Mr. 
Lynch  by  the  Union. 

The  circulation  of  criticisms  is  paid  for,  and  is  the  "  price  of  blood,"  for  which 
God  "will  make  inquisition." 

The  only  escape  is  to  "  repent "  and  circulate  the  Ethics,  and  "  be  baptized  in 
the  liivirtet."  Let  no  man  despise  this  "  contemptible,  yet  singular  man,"  for 
this  is  a  "  climacteral  instance  of  iniquity  :"  it  is  be;\  ond  redemption  even  in  the 
Piedemptive  Hell : — "  Beware,  oh  Dr.  Campbell,  lest,  in  maligning  the  stranger 
(Mr.  Lynch)  whom  you  despise,  you  blaspheme  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God."  "  We 
must  believe  in  ourselves,  because  we  believe  in  Emmanuel — God  with  us  ;"  and 
as  one  specimen,  besides  Mr.  Lynch,  who  is  the  Holy  Ghost,  or  quite  as  binding 
in  obligation,  Mr.  Binney  "has  been  strong,  and  of  his  'fulness'  many  have 
received."  So  does  Mr.  Lynch  empty  Scripture  of  meaning  to  fill  men  with  pre- 
sumption. And,  while  all  this  is  before  the  icorld,  Mr.  Newman  Hall  vouches  for 
his  substantial  orthodoxy,  boasts  of  the  edification  from  Mr.  Lynch"s  private  heart 
utterances;  invents  three  canons  for  interpreting  books,  which  will  turn  Scripture 
into  a  nose  of  wax;  cries  up  love,  and  joy,  and  peace;  and  cries  down  "the 
shibboleths  of  an  Evangelical  party,"  mixing  "  meats  and  drink"  with  "  verbal 
statements  of  doctrine,"  as  -natters  of  indifference;  as  if,  like  Peter,  in  Mr. 
Lvnch's  supposition,  he  had  "married  the  maid  that  kept  the  door,"  and  so 
given  up  that  Christianity,  which  as  an  objective  and  historical  religion,  is  a 
matter  of  "verbal  statements  of  doctrine,"  a  revelation  of  "  propositional  know- 
ledge," to  guide  the  hopes,  and  form  the  experience  of  humanity.  All  this  is 
turned  into  "  dissolving  views,"  or  grotesque  imagery  of  a  distorted  imagination, 
by  the  magic  lanthorn  of  Negative  Theology. 

These  are  the  "  stone  steps"  that  afterwards  sink  into  the  Ser- 
bonian  bog  of  a  "  Christian  Faith"  which  does  not  include  belief  in 
Christianity.  Till  we  get  to  that  stage,  we  may  sing  Mr.  Lynch's 
liii.  Hymn  : — 

Where  is  thy  God,  my  soul  ? 

Confined  to  Scripture's  page, 
Or,  does  His  Spirit  check  and  guide 

The  spirit  of  each  age? 

Of  course  we  give  up  the  second  line  as  a  narrow  authority,  and 
fall  down  before  the  mixed  "  spirit"  described  in  the  fourth.  Nay, 
verily,  for  "  we  have  also  a  more  sure  word  of  prophecy,  wheremito 
ye  do  well  to  take  heed,  as  unto  a  light  that  shineth  in  a  dark 
place." — ii.  Peter,  i.  19. 


119 

Chapter  XII. 

THE  GLASGOW  DEBATE  AND  ITS  LESSONS— 1854. 

Mr.  Holyoake  having  retired  from  Cowper-street  with  the  con- 
fession that  he  preferred  going  to  gaol  to  meeting  me  in  discussion, 
was  afterwards  forced  upon  the  more  dreaded  alternative,  by  the 
Kev.  Dr.  William  Anderson,  of  Glasgow,  who  in  reply  to  the  cus- 
tomary impudent  challenge  of  the  secular  party,  said: — "  Send  for 
Brewin  Grant."  Nor  could  I  complain  of  the  preference,  inasmuch 
as  I  had  intimated  in  Cowper- street  that  if  these  people  should 
pester  any  body  else  I  was  prepared  to  deal  with  them  again.  The 
challenge  to  Dr.  Anderson  by  John  Wright,  secretary  of  the 
Glasgow  Eclectic  Association,  or  picked  lot,  was  as  follows  : — 
Glasgow  Eclectic  Association, 

14,  Garthland  Street,  July,  29  1053. 
Eev.  Sir, 

In  my  official  capacity  as  Secretary  of  the  above  Society,  I  beg  most 
respectfully,  in  accordance  with  their  instructions,  to  state  that  Mr.  George  Jacob 
Holyoake.  Editor  of  the  •'  Eeasoner.'  has  made  arrangements  to  visit  Glasgow 
in  a  few  days,  for  the  purpose  of  delivering  a  course  of  lectures  on  Secularism. 
The  Freethinkers  of  Glasgow,  as  well  as  in  other  places  of  Scotland  and  England, 
are,  I  believe,  almost  unanimous  in  considering  Mr.  Holyoake  as  their  most  distin- 
guished leader  and  efficient  advocate.  And  as  you,  rev.  Sir,  have  acquired  a 
widely-spread  celebrity  by  your  eminent  controversial  abilities  in  defence  of  what 
you  deem  Protestant  truth  against  Popish  error  and  delusion,  the  members  of  the 
above  society,  desirous  that  truth,  and  truth  alone,  by  whomsoever  taught  or 
wheresoever  found,  should  reign  and  flourish  everywhere  among  men,  and  that 
falsehood,  whatever  form  or  aspect  it  may  assume,  may  speedily  be  detected  and 
overthrown,  deem  this  a  most  opportune  occasion  for  a  collision  of  sentiment 
between  two  such  gentlemen  of  unquestioned  ability. 

The  Freethinkers  of  Glasgow  are  emboldened  to  address  your  reverence  more 
especially,  from  the  circumstance  of  your  having  very  recently  challenged  Dr. 
Cahill  to  meet  you  in  public  controversy ;  and  as  it  is  believed  by  the  Christian 
world  that  Infidelity,  no  less  than  Popery,  is  a  system  of  delusion,  subversive  of 
morals,  and  fatal  to  the  noblest  instincts  of  humanity,  a  public  controversy  upon 
the  merits  of  the  two  systems,  between  persons  of  acknowledged  ability,  would 
inevitably,  we  think,  tend  to  beneficial  results. 

Mr.  Holyoake  is  a  man  of  unblemished  moral  reputation,  and  held  in  high 
esteem  by  many  persons  in  every  sphere  of  life,  even  venerated  by  many  who  are 
altogether  opposed  to  his  doctrines.  He  has  also  held  more  public  controversies 
with  distinguished  divines  than  any  other  advocate  of  Infidelity. 

To  this  Dr.  Anderson  replied : — 

Glasgow,  August  14,  1853. 

My  first  impression,  on  reading  your  communication,  was,  that  I  should 
embrace  the  opportunity  which  it  offered  of  exposing  to  public  abhorrence  a 
system — if  system  that  may  be  called,  which  is  ^  mere  mocking  negation  of  all 
that  is  divine  and  venerable. 

On  reflection,  however,  I  found  I  must  deny  myself.  1st,  I  am  greatly  exhaus- 
ted in  strength  by  my  exertions  in  another  controversy,  and  for  liie  carrying 


120 

forward  of  which  I  must  reserve  such  strength  as  remains.  I  would  fail  in  duty 
greatly  were  I  to  permit  the  temptation  of  making  a  spectacle  of  Holyoakery  to 
seduce  me  from  my  present  vocation  to  make  a  spectacle  of  Popery.  2ndly, 
Although  I  am  prepared  to  enter  at  once  on  the  discussion  of  the  general  ques- 
tion, yet,  to  meet  Mr.  Holyoakewith  the  efficiency  desirable,  it  would  be  necessary 
that  I  should  study  minutely  his  various  publications,  that  I  may  be  ready,  by 
prompt  quotations,  to  show  his  dupes,  from  the  ever-changing  state  of  his  opinions 
and  manifold  self-contradictions,  how  disqualified  he  is  for  being  a  guide.  This 
study  would  require  more  time  and  labour,  I  am  persuaded,  than  I  have  expended 
in  making  myself  master  of  the  Decrees  and  Canons  of  the  Council  of  Trent. 
For  this  I  have  neither  leisure  nor  inclination.  The  Council  of  Trent  has 
occupied  my  head  with  quite  enough  of  jargon,  immorality,  and  impiety.  But, 
3rdly,  I  might  have  got  over  these  objections  had  there  been  no  other  person 
ready  to  accept  of  your  invitation,  and  able  to  do  it  justice.  Gentlemen,  send 
for  Beewin  Grant,  and  if  he  refuse  to  meet  Mr.  Holyoake  in  Glasgow,  and  I 
be  not  satisfied  with  his  reasons  of  refusal,  in  consequence  of  what  he  may  con- 
sider unfavourable  terms  which  you  propose,  then  it  is  not  impossible  that  I 
should  overcome  all  reluctance  to  submit  myself  to  the  labour  and  excitement  of 
a  new  controversy,  and  enter  the  field. 

This  rather  staggered  the  infidels,  who,  after  debating  with  any 
one  who  learns  to  beat  them,  always  tried  to  damage  his  character, 
and  to  get  Christians  to  repudiate  him,  while  they  advanced  to  the 
conflict  with  some  other  person,  whom  they  first  praised  and  finally 
denounced,  in  order  to  escape  a  second  encounter  with  one  who 
knew  their  tactics. 

Dr.  Anderson,  who  had  referred  the  Eclectics  to  me,  as  at  present 
more  in  training  on  that  subject,  soon  found  how  disagreeable  his 
suggestion  was,  and  therefore  thus  wrote  to  the  Christian  News, 
September  8,  1853. 

I  deeply  regret  that  there  appears  to  be  no  hope  of  Mr.  Holyoake  meeting 
Mr.  Grant  face  to  face  before  Glasgow  loose  thinkers  ;  for  admirably  as  Mr. 
Grant  acquitted  himself  in  his  first  encounter,  now  that  he  has  had  experience  of 
Mr.  Holyoake's  tactics,  he  would  have  met  him  a  second  time  with  still  greater 
force  of  exposure^ 

The  Glasgow  YouDg  Men's  Association  was  good  enough  to  take 
up  Dr.  Anderson's  suggestion,  and  the  secretary,  Mr.  Robert 
Stark,  wrote  thus  to  Mr.  Holyoake  : — 

33,  Glassfoed  Street,  Glasgow, 

October  22,  1853. 

The  Directors  of  the  Glasgow  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  have 
directed  me  to  write  to  you  as  follows : — 

On  your  visit  to  Glasgow  recently,  the  Eclectic  Association  here,  of  date  29th 
July,  invited  the  Eev.  Dr.  Anderson  to  hold  "a  public  controvery  with  you  upon 
the  comparative  merits  of  the  two  systems."  That  gentleman  replied,  desiring 
that  Association  to  "  send  for  Brewin  Grant,"  and  stating,  that  if  he  would  refuse 
to  meet  Mr.  Holyoake  in  Glasgow,  it  was  not  improbable  that  he  should  do  as 
that  Association  requested. 


121 

As  Mr.  Grant  lias  not  been  sent  for,  the  Directors  have  instructed  me  to  invite 
you  to  a  discussion  with  him  in  this  city,  at  any  early  time  that  may  he  convenient. 

This  was  the  last  thing  that  Mr.  Holyoake  expected  or  desired, 
so  in  reply,  he  quoted  the  Coventry  Standard,  and  made  it  say — 
that  I  was  an  infidel  myself :  of  course  the  quotation  was  a  perver- 
sion, as  the  editor  of  that  paper  wrote  and  showed  me,  but  it  was  a 
clever  trick  to  frighten  the  orthodox  people  of  Glasgow  into  repudi- 
ating the  representative  whom  they  had  chosen  and  whom  the 
infidels  naturally  objected  to. 

The  following  is  Mr.  Holyoake's  "  liberal"  evasion: — 

Your  communication  has  somewhat  surprised  me.  My  Scottish  friends  wished 
Secularism  to  be  debated  with  a  Scottish  Presbyterian  minister;  but  I  do  not  see 
how  this  end  is  to  be  answered  by  referring  them  to  an  Independent  minister  of 
Birmingham,  of  uncertain  religious  principles,  with  whom  the  subject  has 
already  been  debated — who  has  said  whatever  he  had  to  say  on  the  subject,  and 
whose'speeches,  revised  by  himself,  are  already  in  the  hands  of  my  friends.  From 
the  Kev.  Dr.  Anderson,  a  very  different  order  of  minister,  and  of  national  reputa- 
tion, some  new  criticism  or  some  instruction  is  to  be  hoped,  but  from  Mr.  Grant, 
for  ever  wading  in  a  pool  of  personalities,  nothing. 

May  I  ask  in  what  sense  your  colleagues  put  Mr.  Grant  forward?  Does  the 
"Rev.  Dr.  Anderson,  do  the  Rev.  Dr.  Buchanan,  the  Rev.  Dr.  King,  the  Rev.  N. 
M'Leod,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wardlaw,  advertised  "  Extraordinary  Directors  "  of  your 
Association,  put  forward  the  Rev.  Mr.  Grant  as  their  representative? 

You  enclose  with  your  letter  the  "  Lecture  List "  of  your  Association  for  1853-4. 
I  observe  that  from  this  list  you  omit  your  •'  Fundamental  Rules,"  the  second  of 
which  is,  I  believe,  that  "None  shall  be  eligible  as  lecturers"  to  your  Association, 
"  except  such  as  hold  the  doctrines  of  the  Divine  Inspiration  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  the  Deity  and  Atonement  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
in  the  conversion  and  sanctification  of  the  sinner,  and  the  justification  of  the 
sinner  by  Faith  alone.  No  remark  shall  be  permitted  at  any  meeting,  or  in  any 
publication  of  the  Association,  in  opposition  to  any  of  these  doctrines."  Sir,  has 
your  Association  ascertained  that  Mr.  Grant  holds  the  doctrines  stated  above  ? 
The  Coventry  Standard,  a  paper  which  (though  not  to  my  taste)  you  icould 
consider  sound  in  the  faith,  reviewing  the  debate  between  Mr.  Grant  and  myself, 
wrote,  as  I  am  informed,  to  this  effect : — '"This  is  a  discussion  between  the  Rev. 
Brewin  Grant  and  another  Infidel,  Mr.  G.  J.  Holyoake."  Throughout  my  con- 
troversial intercourse  with  Mr.  Grant,  I  solicited  in  vain  a  copy  of  his  creed.  In 
certain  propositions  I  have  expressed,  for  Mr.  Grant's  instruction,  what  I  take  to 
be  the  leading  principles  of  Secularism.  Before  I  debate  with  that  gentleman 
again,  I  require,  a  least,  to  see  him  express,  in  so  many  propositions,  what  he 
regards  as  the  leading  principles  of  Christianity. 

You  are  young  men,  seeking.  I  doubt  not,  as  sincerely  as  my  own  friends,  the 
vindication  of  public  truth  in  the  discussion  you  propose.  Do  not  therefore  dis- 
qualify yourselves  by  denying  the  equal  intentions  of  others,  or  by  putting 
forward  a  minister  who  will  do  it  in  the  grossest  language.  In  what  way  is  it 
possible  for  me  to  listen  deferentially  to  such  a  representative  ?  Why  should  I 
believe  in  the  man  who  arbitrarily  disbelieves  in  my  word?  I  counsel  my  friends 
that  they  are  exonerated  from  attending  to  either  Apostles  or  Preachers  who 


122 

address  them  as  "  deceivers"  or  "hypocrites."  If  they  acquiesce  in  this  language, 
the  public  will  have  a  right  to  conclude  the  imputation  true.  I  can  never  be  so 
sure  of  another's  veracity  as  of  my  own.  If,  therefore,  a  minister  denies  my 
truthfulness  upon  supposition,  what  reason  can  he  give  me  for  believing  in  his  ? 
When  he  has  taught  me  to  distrust  his  word,  he  can  speak  to  me  no  longer — he 
can  bring  me  no  message  from  God — he  has  justified  the  gravest  doubts  as  to 
whether  lie  believes  in  Christianity  himself. 

I  am,  dear  Sir, 
Kobert  Stark,  Esq.,  Yours  respectfully, 

Secretary  to  the  Glasgow  Geo.  Jacob  Holyoake. 

Young  Men's  Christian  Association. 

This  v/as  written  from  "the  Reascner  office,  London,"  Nov.  5, 
1853.  Mr.  Holyoake's  liberal  freethinking  libel,  accusing  his  op- 
ponent of  heresy  and  inconsistency  as  a  compliment  to  his  ability, 
did  not  blind  the  directors,  who  were  not  disposed  to  let  this  vaunting 
challenger  escape  a  second  opportunity  of  learning  "  the  art  of 
making  Christianity  disagreeable."  Accordingly,  after  telling  him 
that  it  was  Ids  side  that  obtruded  the  challenge  on  Dr.  Andekson, 
who  desired  them  to  transfer  it  to  the  Rev.  Bkewin  Gkant,  as  at 
present  a  more  efficient  advocate  than  he,  of  Christianity  against 
secularism,  they  proceed  to  remove  his  delicate  scruples  as  to  my 
soundness  in  the  faith,  saying  : — 

"  The  Directors  attach  little  importance  to  the  words  you  have  been  informed 
were  inserted  in  the  Coventry  Standard,  as,  even  if  correctly  quoted,  they  are 
evidently  either  a  verbal  mistake,  or  easily  enough  understood  when  taken  in 
connection  with  the  previous  context. 

"  The  Directors  cannot  see  how  you  and  Mr.  Grant,  having  already  had  several 
nights'  discussion,  should  prove  that  either  has  no  more  to  say  to  the  other ; 
indeed,  they  rather  think  that,  by  means  of  that  preliminary  discussion,  both  will 
be  better  prepared  for  still  further  argumentation,  and  that  without  a  long-con- 
tinued preparatory  correspondence. 

"The  Directors  do  not  think  that  either  the  Eclectic  Association  or  they  could 
be  held  responsible  for  every  word  or  statement  of  the  disputants,  such  a  selection 
implying  only  a  general  confidence,  which  might  afterwards  be  found  to  have  been 
misplaced. 

"  The  Directors  are  surprised  at  your  referring  to  Mr.  Grant  as  "  an  Indepen- 
dent minister  of  uncertain  religious  principles,"  when  he  has  distinctly  stated  to 
you,  in  a  printed  letter  of  27th  July,  1852,  "  I  am  concerned  to  defend  the  general 
doctrines  of  '  the  orthodox,'  more  especially  of  the  Independents,  with  whose 
opinions  you  are  well  acquainted."  So  that,  if  Mr.  Grant's  religious  principles 
are  uncertain,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wardlaw  and  the  Rev.  John  Angell  James  must  also 
be  •  Independent  ministers  of  uncertain  religious  principles.'  " 

To  Mr.  Holyoake's  perpetual  and  feeble  wail  about  personalities, 
while  he  is  himself  at  the  same  time  libellously  personal  and  accu- 
satory, the  Directors  gave  this  straight  cut : — "  As  to  Mr.  Grant's 
language  in  reference  to  you,  the  directors  think  that  the  easiest  way 
of  enabling  the  public  to  judge  of  its  propriety  would  be  to  afford 


123 

yen  an  opportunity  of  proving  its  inapplicability.  If  found  inappli- 
cable, Mr.  Grant  will  suffer  and  not  you."  This  was  particularly 
cruel :  nor  were  the  Directors  more  merciful  when  they  added : — 
"  We  understand  that  Mr.  Grant  is  not  less  sparing  in  his  language 
of  Mr.  Southwell  and  Mr.  Robert  Cooper,  and  that  you,  notwith- 
standing, recommend  them  to  meet  him  in  debate,  while  you  say, 
■ I  can  never  be  so  sure  of  another's  veracity  as  of  my  own.'  " 

To  relieve  his  mind  on  the  score  of  my  orthodoxy,  they  assured 
him  that  "  Mr.  Grant  is  willing  to  assent  to  nearly  all  the  statements 
made  in  '  the  Shorter  Catechism  of  the  Westminster  Assembly  of 
Divines.'  "  After  four  or  five  days'  consideration,  and  seeing  no 
clear  way  out  of  the  fix — in  which  he  no  doubt  said  many  times, 
"A  plague  on  all  challenges  !  "  he  wrote : — "  147,  Fleet-street,  11  mo. 
17,  1853. — Dear  Sir, — Would  you  oblige  me  with  the  Assembly 
Catechism  with  Scripture  proofs  ?  I  hope  in  a  few  days  to  be  able 
to  answer  your  letter  of  the  10th  inst. — Yours  faithfully,  G.  J.  Holy- 
oake."  He  was  soon  provided  with  this  help  to  discussion,  ac- 
companied with  this  note  : — "  Sir, — As  desired  in  yours  of  the  17th, 
I  enclose  the  Assembly  Shorter  Catechism  with  Scripture  proofs. 
Waiting  your  reply  to  ours  of  the  10th, — I  am,  respectfully  yours, 
Robert  Stark,  Secretary." 

It  took  Mr.  Holyoake  just  five  months  to  learn  his  catechism  : 
his  friends  were  greatly  disheartened,  for  they  saw  their  standard- 
bearer  faint  who  had  promised  to  disturb  every  saint  in  the  kingdom 
with  incessant  attacks  on  Mount  Zion ;  and  now  he  is  silent. 
No  doubt  they  roused  him  up  ;  hence  he  broke  out  in  April  of  the 
next  year,  saying  that  he  had  been  very  busy,  but  added,  "  Seeing 
my  way  clear  at  length  to  leaving  town  at  intervals,  I  inform  you 
of  my  consent  to  meet  Mr.  Grant  in  Glasgow.  My  opinion  of  the 
inconsistency  of  our  being  requested  to  meet  again  remains  un- 
changed, but  I  defer  to  the  judgment  of  Dr.  Anderson  and  the  rev. 
directors  on  whose  behalf  you  write."  After  some  further  boggling, 
which  secured  a  few  more  months'  delay,  up  to  July  19,  he  was 
brought  into  the  field  Oct.  2nd.  The  discussion  was  for  six  nights, 
on  successive  Mondays  and  Thursdays,  and  took  place  in  the  City 
Hall,  Glasgow.  During  this  time  and  for  three  more  weeks  my 
family  resided  at  "  the  Kirn,"  near  Dunoon,  at  the  foot  of  the  Clyde, 
that  my  wife  might  compare  the  scenery  with  the  description  of  it 
in  my  love  letter,  given  on  page  47. 

The  question  for  discussion  was — "Is  secularism  inconsistent 
with  reason  and  with  the  moral  sense,  and  condemned  by  expe- 
rience? By  '  secularism'  is  meant  that  phase  of  modern  freethought 


124 

represented  by  Mr.  Holyoake 's  writings,  and  in  the  publications 
edited,  recommended,  or  approved  of  by  him." 

I  spent  several  weeks  beforehand  in  culling  specimens,  which  I 
strung  together,  with  date,  page,  and  volume,  to  an  extent  that 
astonished  the  infidels  as  much  as  Christians.  This  debate  finished 
Mr.  Holyoake  and  his  party,  so  far  as  reputation  for  ability, 
honesty,  reason,  and  philosophy  was  concerned,  and  he  never 
recovered  any  hold  on  the  general  public. 

To  revenge  himself  he  added — to  his  introductory  warning  res- 
pecting my  alleged  heterodoxy,  which  he  wished  to  make  into  a 
penalty — the  declaration  that  somebody  in  England  doubted  my 
conversion.      A  thing  that  infidels  do  not  believe  in. 

I  got  a  letter  from  the  gentleman  he  referred  to,  and  he  was 
forced  to  retract  publicly  at  the  close  of  the  discussion. 

To  these  absurd  but  malicious  accusations,  he  added  that  the 
religious  press  had  not  reviewed  our  Cowper-street  debate,  and  in- 
sinuated that  in  this  quarter  I  was  given  up.  I  referred  him  to  two 
handsome  recognitions  of  my  success,  that  appeared  in  the  Eclectic, 
Review  and  the  London  Quarterly. 

Instead  of  defending  his  own  productions,  which  was  his  foolishly 
accepted  "  Task  of  to-day,"  he  declared  that  my  own  denomination 
had  discarded  me,  which  if  true,  would  have  been  base  and  wicked 
on  the  part  of  my  denomination. 

I  was  able,  however,  then,  to  give  this  answer  as  to  my  standing 
with  the  Congregational  Union,  which  I  recommend  to  the  consi- 
deration of  the  committee  of  that  grave  assembly.  The  passage 
referred  to  occurs  on  page  123  of  the  printed  report  of  the  Glasgow 
discussion,  taken  by  the  same  reporter  as  the  Cowper-street  one, — 
Mr.  Reed, — and  published  with  the  "joint  consent"  of  the 
disputants. 

When  Mr.  Holyoake  states  that  in  England  I  am  commonly  regarded  as  not 
orthodox,  he  declares  what  is  false.  For  I  have  now  an  engagement  to  go  over 
to  the  Congregational  Union,  which  holds  nearly  the  same  opinions  in  reference 
to  church  rule  as  the  Scotch  Presbyterians,  and  the  same  doctrines  as  yourselves. 
I  am  just  now  engaged  next  week,  between  the  fifth  and  sixth  nights  of  this  dis- 
cussion, to  give  two  lectures  under  the  auspices  of  the  Congregational  Union. 
At  its  annual  May  meeting,  a  plan  which  I  proposed  for  influencing  this  country 
was  adopted  and  recommended  to  a  committee ;  and  I  am  invited  to  go  and  speak 
upon  it  at  Newcastle.  I  am  quite  ashamed  to  say  these  things,  but  I  only 
mention  them  to  p  \t  you  on  your  guard,  and  to  show  how  these  men  who  com- 
plain, that  if  you  don't  accept  the  theories  of  a  freethinker,  you  are  bigoted,  will 
try  to  fasten  on  any  Christian  advocate  the  charge  of  being  heterodox.  If  they 
can't  answer  his  arguments,  they  will  try  to  injure  his  professional  standing,  and 
all  under  the  name  of  the  literty  of  thought.  There  is  nothing  more  pitiful  than 
that  sort  of  warfare. 


125 

The  infidels  having  been  beaten  out  of  the  field,  professed 
Christians  have  taken  up  their  poisoned  weapons,  and  in  some  cases 
have,  like  the  infidels,  been  most  bitter  in  revenge  when  completely 
foiled  in  argument.  There  is  no  calumny  which  they  will  not 
secretly  circulate,  and  no  cruelty  which  they  will  not  perpetrate, 
as  far  as  is  permitted.  I  speak  now  of  those,  to  whose  recognition 
of  me  I  referred  in  reply  to  Mr.  Holyoake's  passionate  slanders. 

It  will  be  remembered  with  how  great  deference  the  Eclectics 
approached  the  Rev.  Dr.  Anderson,  and  how  Mr.  Holyoake  joined 
them  in  respect  for  that  gentleman  and  out  of  disrespect  for  me  ; 
but  even  that  able  and  excellent  man  was  insulted  coarsely  by  the 
secular  apostle  in  this  very  debate. 

This  led  me  to  make  the  following  observations  : — 

It  is  not  for  me  to  eulogise  Dr.  Anderson :  I  will  only  state  that  I  have  never 
heard  any  but  Mr.  Holyoake — who  abuses  all  good  men — speak  of  Dr.  Anderson 
with  anything  else  than  the  deepest  respect  and  admiration.  It  is  not  merely  in 
Scotland  that  he  is  a  minister  of  national  reputation,  but  in  England  a  gentleman 
■wrote  to  me,  saying,  '•  You  never  had  a  higher  compliment  than  when  Dr.  Ander- 
son said,  in  reply  to  the  challenge  of  Holvoake's  party,  ;  Send  for  Brewin  Grant.'  " 

And  so  much  personal  kindness  have  I  received  from  this  gentleman — (though 
a  young  man  and  a  stranger) — that  I  feel  as  if  egotistical  and  praising  myself 
when  praising  one  who  is  so  generous,  simple-hearted,  and  noble  a  friend.  It 
was  by  the  accident  of  the  obtrusive  infidel  challenge  that  I  was  thrown  into  his 
society  ;  but  I  shall  always  retain  the  highest  respect  and  affection  for  him :  and 
if  I  had  not  known  him,  it  would  be  the  best  recommendation  to  know  that  Mr. 
Holyoake  insults  him,  for  then  he  must  be  a  good  man  in  those  respects  in  which 
this  moralist  condemns  him. 

The  first'  part  of  the  following  passage  describes  the  course 
which  I  pursued  in  this  discussion,  and  the  second  part  contains  a 
very  important  argument,  which  effectually  annihilates  the  preten- 
sions of  those  who  object  to  supernatural  religion,  since  all  the 
wickedness  of  all  religions,  is,  on  their  own  principles,  the  product  of 
that  very  naturalism  on  which  they  rely.  Or,  as  I  have  elsewhere 
expressed  a  similar  sentiment :  if  the  Bible  is  false  its  authors 
were  infidels,  for  those  who  invented  it  did  not  believe  it. 

In  reference  to  the  Glasgow  discussion,  I  said  in  one  of  my  cus- 
tomary summaries  of  the  points  gone  through  : — 

I  have  had  one  object  in  view,  and  have  kept  steadily  to  it,  and  have  demo- 
lished all  pretences  to  reason  or  morals  in  the  works  of  these  infidels,  and  this  is 
their  condemnation  from  experience.  Mr.  Holyoake  has  questioned  whether  he 
wrote  one  of  the  passages  on  "  Salutary  Ridicule,"  and  I  have  read  it  to  him  with 
additions.  He  has  not  even  denied  any  other  passage,  but  only  explained  that  he 
was  not  the  author  of  that  about  the  Tract  Society,  which  contains  the  gross  libel 
on  St.  Paul ;  but  I  gave  him  another  as  bad,  from  his  own  pen,  about  the  Tract 
Society  as  the  "  depository  of  sacred  calumny,"  and  two  about  St  .Paul,  in  one  of 
which  this  meek  Jesuit  calls  the  apostle  "that  pious  ruffian."     So  that  his 


126 

denial  of  the  authorship  of  one  passage  does  not  escape  the  sin  of  the  slander  and 
wicked  falsehood  contained  in  what  he  did  write;  whilst  his  acceptance  of  the 
other  passage,  his  selection  of  it  to  adorn  his  organ,  makes  him  guilty  of  its 
crime,  since  "  the  receiver  is  as  had  as  the  thief." 

The  infidel  having  thus  left  every  quotation  untouched,  undefended,  to  lie  in 
print  before  the  eyes  of  many  thousand  readers,  as  the  demonstration  of  the  vile- 
ness  of  this  party,  what  has  Mr.  Holyoake  done  to  retrieve  himself  and  his 
wretched  fraternity  from  odium  ?  Simply  this  last  resort  of  an  abandoned  and 
prostrate  cause,  to  indulge  in  "recrimination,"  and  try  to  prove  that  others  are 
as  bad  as  himself ;  which,  on  the  49th  page  of  this  debate,  he  declares  he  will 
not  stoop  to ;  but  he  always  does  what  he  says  he  will  not.  Does  that  incon- 
sistent, repudiated,  and  practised  recrimination  prove  his  cause  good,  even  if  he 
makes  out  the  case  against  others  ?  No  :  it  confesses  that  his  cause  is  bad,  and 
he  adopts  the — "  you  are  another"  argument.  If  this  retort  were  true,  it  would 
be  no  answer  ;  it  would  not  exonerate  him,  but  only  condemn  both  sides.  He  is 
sinking,  and  he  wants  this  poor  satisfaction — to  be  drowned  in  company.  He 
shall  go  down  by  himself.  "  We  disclaim  the  wicked  fraternity,"  as  he  observed 
when  he  was  sinful  enough  to  say  he  "  was  not  a  sinner,"  which  he  forgets  when 
he  asks  others,  "  who  have  the  grace  of  God,"  to  be  better  than  himself ;  since 
it  is  because  we  "  are  sinners"  that  we  accept  this  "  grace ;"  and,  therefore,  he 
who  claims  to  be  perfect  should  have  pity  on  "  publicans  and  sinners,"  and  not 
expect  us  to  equal  his  unmatchable  perfection. 

This  very  doctrine  of  "  grace"  shows  that  he  cannot  retort  our  sins  on  our 
principles,  since  we  teach  that  we  are  "  frail  by  nature,"  which  is  secular,  and 
good  only  by  "  grace,"  which  is  Christian  ;  and  therefore  our  virtues  belong  to 
our  principles,  and  our  vices,  and  his  own  vices,  and  the  vices  of  all  men,  are 
instances  of  the  insufficiency  of  that  moral  nature  which  is  his  adopted 
standard. 

I  do  not  think  Mr.  Holyoake  can  understand  this.  I  am  sure  he  will  not 
fairly  restate  and  answer  it ;  for  it  sho^s  that  all  he  or  others  can  say  against 
any  man,  Christian  or  Infidel,  is  an  argument  for  the  insufficiency  of  morals  as 
founded  on  human  nature;  whilst  all  he  says  against  the  Bible,  enormously 
wicked  as  his  slanders  are,  would,  if  true,  only  make  him  sink  the  sooner ;  for  if 
the  Bible  is  such  a  wicked  book — who  made  it  ?  Did  not  men  make  it — according 
to  his  principles  ;  is  it  not  a  human  production,  and  therefore  the  outgrowth  of 
those  secular  morals  founded  on  human  nature ;  and  is  not  the  same  true  of 
grosser  religions  that  prevail  ?  Do  not  these,  therefore,  all  prove  that  man  is  vile, 
if  he  can  make  and  almost  worship  vile  books  ? 

Or  will  Mr.  Holyoake  say  our  book  is  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ?  He 
denies  this  ;  therefore  he  admits  it  is  the  immoral  production  of  that  nature  which 
he  says  is  a  sufficient  basis  for  morals.  So  that  if  he  is  right  in  his  assertions, 
he  destroys  his  own  cause ;  for  the  Bible,  looked  at  as  a  human  production,  is 
like  all  human  wickedness — purely  "  secular" — the  outgrowth  of  human  nature, 
which  Mr.  Holyoake  says  has  "  sufficient  guarantees  for  morality ;"  and  yet 
which  he  accuses  of  producing  this  enormity,  as  he  libellously  describes  oar 
Bible  to  be. 

Nay,  more  :  since  this  book — so  very  wicked  in  the  eyes  of  one  who  loves 
"  morality," — at  least  who  finds  it  absolutely  necessary  to  repeat  this  profession 
and  to  add  asseverations  of  his  "sincerity,"  of  which  none  would  dream  if  he  did 
not  mention  it,  and  which  none  who  are  awake  can  believe,  because  he  mentions 
it  too  often ; — this  book,  so  bad  in  the  eyes  of  this  man,  is  still  regarded  as  very 
good  in  the  eyes  of  other  men,  who  indeed  "  are  sinners,"  and  do  not,  like  Mr. 


127 

Holyoake,  deny  it.  "What,  then,  must  be  the  enormous  immorality  of  that  very 
••  human  nature,"'  which  not  only  invented  such  a  book  and  found  many  who  per- 
versely died  for  their  testimony  to  it,  but  has  allowed  the  very  wisest  nations, 
and  the  very  best  men  that  human  nature  can  manufacture,  the  most  intelligent 
that  humanity  can  produce,  simple  and  gentle,  old  and  young,  rich  and  poor, 
learned  and  unlearned,  all  bowing  before  this  wicked  book  ?  What  a  comment 
on  the  sufficient  goodness  of  humanity,  when  the  foremost  nations,  the  best  men, 
thousands  upon  thousands  of  people  are  so  morally  debased ;  and  when  tbis  book 
is  sold  more  than  any  other,  and  is  perversely  translated  into  almost  every  human 
tongue,  to  pollute  even  the  unsophisticated  secular  barbarians,  and  threatening 
even  cultivated  Confucian  China,  with  the  worse  than  Kussian  invasion  of  two 
million  testaments  at  once !  "What  an  awful  wicked  world,  what  a  degenerate 
human  nature,  still  getting  worse,  with  only  one  good  man  that  carries  a  higher 
humanity  in  bis  metaphysical  theory — Mr.  Holyoake — who  stands  alone  to  stem 
this  torrent  of  unutterable  natural  wickedness,  by  "■  noble  "aspiration"  after  a 
Utopian  morality  founded  on  a  nature  so  experimentally  perverse  ! 

Does  he  not  well  describe  himself  as  "  saving  a  few  from  a  wreck,"  by  bringing 
his  metapbysical  humanity  from  "the  wreck"  of  that  real  humanity,  from  which 
he  has  swum  ashore  to  lecture  on  its  sufficiency  for  morals  ? 

If,  then,  all  he  says  against  the  Bible  and  its  followers  were  as  true  as  it  is 
false,  it  would  be  an  overwhelming  confutation  of  his  pitiful  metaphysical  suffi- 
ciency of  the  morals  in  human  nature. 

Bomarsund  was  blown  up  with  its  o»vn  powder,  and  that  is  a  parable  for  Mr. 
Holyoake  and  his  discomfited  adherents.  He  is  taken  in  his  own  craftiness, 
and  falls  headlong  into  the  pit  he  digged  for  others ;  his  attack  on  the  Bible  and 
the  churches,  if  true,  is  fatal  to  his  own  cause — the  sufficient  morality  of  human 
nature. 

I  do  not  expect  him  to  understand  this.    I  am  sure  he  will  forget  to  state  it. 

Mr.  Holyoake  asked,  "  where  the  Bible  would  lead  us  to,"  if  we  followed  it? 
Why.  to  heaven  of  course  ;  where  do  you  think  ?  And  where  will  his  system 
lead  ?  Just  the  contrary  road  ;  for  it  is  as  fatal  in  morals  as  we  have  in  every 
shape  proved  it  to  be  fallacious  in  argument. 

At  the  risk  of  occupying  too  much  space  on  this  discussion,  I 
cannot  avoid  quoting  a  passage  on  progress  which  may  be  of 
service  to  many  a  reader.  It  follows  an  enumeration  of  the  various 
whirligigs  through  which  these  "  reasoners"  had  led  their  confused 
disciples  ; — 

TRUE    AND    FALSE    PROGRESS. 

He  will  for  a  time  amu?e  his  followers  by  calling  this, — "  progress,"  like  his 
friend  Joseph  Barker  ;  but  if  "  progress"  means  giving  up  your  opinions,  you  can 
get  to  the  end  at  once  by  having  no  opinion  at  all.  A  railway  engineer  is  a 
"  man  of  progress  ;"  but  if  you  were  a  shareholder,  you  would  like  him  to  know 
his  business  before  he  began  to  work  on  your  property  ;  if  he  made  you  a  line 
pretendedly  from  Manchester  to  London,  and  laid  out  all  tbe  preparation  on  the 
road  for  Scotland,  and  next  offered  to  start  in  some  other  direction,  he  might  call 
his  past  blunder  and  his  new  guess, — "  progress  ;"  but  he  would  not,  by  that  fine 
word  "progress,"  induce  you  to  let  him  spend  more  of  your  capital  on  a  rail  to 
the  moon. 

You  are  a  plain  man,  and  here  is  a  clever  engineer,  who  has  invented  a  new 
sort  of  bridge — it  will  cost  a  good  deal,  but  then  he  proves  (for  he  is  a  beautiful 


128 

talker  any  way),  and  proves  to  your  confused  understanding,  that  such  a  bridge 
would  be  safe  and  lasting  :  it  is  not  one  of  your  old  tumble-down  bridges — of 
course  not ;  you  are  persuaded,  and  the  bridge  is  built,  and  is  not  an  old  tumble- 
down bridge,  but  a  new  tumble-down  bridge,  and  you  have  had  to  pay  for  it. 

He  himself  comes,  not  to  refund  your  money,  not  to  regret  his  blunder,  but  to 
praise  his  wisdom ;  he  has  himself  found  out  that  such  a  bridge  was  not  likely  to 
stand ;  when  he  invented  that,  he  was  under  the  deluding  influence  of  the  old 
bridge-making  craft ;  he  is  wiser  now,  and  can  show  demonstratively  where  that 
failed ;  he  will  show  you  that  no  man  of  common  sense  could  have  expected  any- 
thing else  ;  and  then  will  bring  out  a  real  new  plan  as  safe  as  "  progress,"  on 
which  you  may  spend  another  ten  thousand  pounds.  For  he  defies  you,  and  all 
the  engineers  of  old  orthodoxy  to  find  a  flaw  in  the  scheme ;  very  likely  you  would 
be  puzzled  to  show  where  the  fault  is,  and  could  only  say  "But  the  bridge  you 
have  made  failed,  and  you  sail  the  same  about  that ;  we  don't  want  a  bridge  that 
will  stand  talking  about,  but  one  that  will  stand  the  weather  and  the  trains,  and 
that  will  at  least  bear  its  own  weight ;  but  your  old  bridge  tumbled  down." 
"  Ay,  my  dear  Sir,"  he  replies,  "you  little  understand  the  march  of  intellect; 
in  this  age  of  locomotion,  '  progress'  is  the  word  ;  we  are  not  tied  to  old  orthodox 
bridges  ;  we  are  in  advance,  and  sing  the  song,  '  Try,  try,  try,  again.'  "  What 
would  you  say  ?  The  reply  would  be,  "you  are  very  plausible,  and  in  one  sense 
right — we  must  try  again  ;  but  we  will  try  another  engineer,  who  will  not  '  pro- 
gress' in  pulling  down  old  bridges  to  make  worse  new  ones,  but  who  will  put  up  a 
firm  structure,  and  let  us  '  progress'  while  the  bridge  stands  still,  as  all  decent 
bridges  ought." 

We  must  die  to  find  it  out,  was  long  a  favourite  phrase  of 
sceptics,  and  considered  a  sufficient  reason  for  not  seriously  regard- 
ing the  claims  of  the  gospel.  To  this  I  gave  the  following  reply, 
which  may  not  be  unserviceable  ;  such  short  statements  would  make 
useful  little  "tracts:  " — 

There  is  one  assertion  which  Mr.  Holyoake  is  fond  of  making,  which  he  will 
never  make  again,  if  he  has  any  pretension  to  argument.  It  is  considered  of 
some  force  against  Christianity,  only  because  of  ignorance  and  the  boldness  with 
which  it  is  uttered. 

I  mean  the  saying,  that  "  we  must  die  to  find  out  whether  Christianity  is 
true."  If  Mr.  Holyoake  were  to  say  that  he  must  die  to  find  it  out,  the  assertion 
would  be  more  modest,  though  not  less  melancholy.  For  does  he  mean  that  we, 
for  ourselves  at  least,  have  not  found  out  that  it  is  true  ? — that  we  may  not  find 
it  as  firmly  proved  to  our  satisfaction,  as  a  thousand  other  things  on  which  we 
rely  and  act  daily  ?  This  saying  is  not  true,  therefore,  of  us,  for  we  have  found 
it  out  already. 

Secondly — We  have  lived  to  "  find"  Mr.  Holyoake  "  out"  and  believe  him  not 
to  be  true,  before  we  die,  and  therefore  need  not  attend  further  to  his  revelations. 
•  Thirdly — Many  infidels  themselves,  and  indeed  the  majority,  "  find  it  out" 
before  "  they  die  ;"  and,  thank  God,  it  is  theirs  then,  if  they  truly  accept  it,  as 
many  of  them  do. 

Fourthly — When  infidels  expect  to  die,  they  are  often  known  to  send  for  the 
minister,  the  elder,  or  deacon,  in  preference  to  their  companions  or  teachers,  and 
so  prove  that  "  they  find  it  out  before  they  die" — as  I  hope  all  infidels  reading  or 
hearing  this,  will.  Nor  do  I  believe  there  is  any  minister  of  the  gospel  that  would 
not  attend  to  such  a  case  with  the  utmost  tenderness  and  alacrity,  as  they  have 


129 

often  done  ;  and  I  believe  many  hearers  and  readers  of  this  discussion  will  even- 
tually try  this  plan. 

Fifthly — If  we  "  must  die  to  find  out  whether  Christianity  is  true,"  what  do 
you  now  say  it  is  false  for  ? 

Sisthly — If  "  we  must  die  to  find  it  out,"  must  not  you  ? 

Seventhly — If  we  do  not  know  whether  we  are  right  before  we  die,  do  you 
kno\  any  better  while  you  live  ;  and,  if  we  are  both  alike  on  this  matter,  why  do 
you  say  this  against  religion,  instead  of  against  your  own  notions  ? 

Eighthly — May  you  not,  when  you  die,  "  find  out  "  that  your  views  are  false? 

Ninthly, — If  we  are  wrong  when  we  die,  are  we  not  as  well  off  as  you  ? 

Tenthly, — If  you  are  wrong  when  you  die,  are  you  as  well  off  as  we? 

Eleventhly, — If,  then,  "  we  must  die  to  find  it  out,"  which  is  on  the  safer 
Bide? 

Twelfthly, — Had  you  not  better  find  it  out  while  you  live  ? 

Thirteenthly, — Shall  you  not  ask  the  same  unwise  question  again,  as  if  it  had 
never  been  answered  ? 

Fourteenthly, — If  so,  what  do  you  ask  questions  at  all  for  ? 

Will  you  take  my  responsibility  ?  was  another  favourite  ques- 
tion, and  perhaps  still  is,  with  the  same  class,  and  to  it  also  my  last 
Glasgow  speech  afforded  an  answer,  which  I  commend  to  the  reader. 

There  is  a  further  inquiry  which  I  hope  will  never  be  put  again,  namely — 

why  should  I  believe  you,  if  I  am  to  suffer  for  myself?  "Will  you  take  my  res- 
ponsibility? "  Now,  since  he  will  not  take  our  responsibility,  he  should,  on  this 
principle,  neither  offer  his  opinions  to  us,  nor  ask  from  us  so  unreasonable  a 
condition. 

No  infidel  will  take  our  responsibility  ;  then  why,  on  the  same  ground,  should 
we  believe  them  or  their  opinions  ? 

But  if  you  ask  me,  as  a  minister — will  I  take  your  responsibility  ?  I  say,  God 
forbid !  I  do  indeed  trust  my  all  to  what  I  recommend  to  you,  and  so  give  a 
pledge  of  my  sincerity ;  but  I  do  not  ask  you  to  trust  in  me  ;  it  is  not  the  gospel 
of  my  reason,  but  of  God's  revelation ;  -  I  ask  you  to  trust  in  Jesus  Christ.  And 
if  you  say — well,  will  He  take  my  responsibility  ?  I  say  yes,  certainly  ;  that  is 
what  He  lived  for,  and  died  for,  and  lives  again  for ;  that  is  why  He  is  a  Judge  and  a 
Saviour.  And  since  that  you  admit  that  this  "  responsibility"  is  what  you  feel 
to  be  so  heavy,  and  that  you  look  for  some  one  to  take  it  off  for  you ;  if  you 
really  meant  that,  then  "  there  is  now  no  condemnation  to  them  that  are  in 
Christ  Jesus  ; "  and  therefore,  in  this  alone  will  you  find  what  you  profess  to 
seek ; — what  I  cannot  give,  what  no  Infidel  dare  offer,  what  you  cannot  find  in 
yourself,  but  what  you  will  find  in  Christ,  namely — One  who  "  takes  your  res- 
ponsibility," and  One  to  whom  you  are  responsible.  "  For  we  must  all  appear 
before  the  judgment  seat  of  Christ,"  and  if  we  now  are  "  brought  nigh  by  His 
blood,"  we  "  shall  be  saved  from  wrath  through  Him." 


130 

Chapter  XIII. 

CANDID ATING  FOR  A  RE-SETTLEMENT  AT  THE  CLOSE 

OF  MY  PUBLIC  MISSION  :  Letters  of  Commendation,  1856. 

Nearly  every  Hall  of  Science  and  infidel  shop  throughout  the 
kingdom  being  shut  up,  and  all  the  popular  infidel  orators  being 
similarly  situated  or  rendered  comparatively  innoxious,  and  more 
than  the  stipulated  time,  three  years,  having  been  occupied  in 
labours  abundant — travelling  and  weariness — I  began  to  look  for 
a  re-settlement  in  some  private  pastorate. 

I  had  been  favoured  with  the  gratitude  of  thousands,  and  received 
many  valuable  testimonies  to  the  usefulness  of  my  labours  from 
those  who  had  been  interested  observers,  and,  therefore,  was  in 
many  respects  favourably  placed  for  securing  introductions  to  vacant 
churches.  At  the  same  time  I  laboured  under  some  serious  disad- 
vantages. First,  there  are  those  who  have  not  the  capacity  to 
understand  that  others  may  have  two  capacities — that  a  person  could 
both  lecture  and  preach.  Secondly,  there  are  those  who,  ignorant 
of  human  nature,  imagine  that  he  who  can  laugh  cannot  cry,  and 
that  to  be  amused  and  amusing  on  suitable  subjects  indicates  a 
want  of  solemnity  on  others.  Thirdly,  there  are  those  who  make 
amends  for  acknowledging  your  ability  by  hinting  a  doubt  of  your 
piety  ;  or  who,  from  envy,  as  conscious  of  inferiority  in  courage  and 
capacity,  compensate  themselves  by  any  discounts  they  can  take  off. 
Fourthly,  there  are  those  that  feel  that  they  could  have  done  a  great 
deal  better,  and  do  not  see  why  you  should  be  so  highly  extolled. 
Fifthly,  there  are  good,  honest  Christian  people,  ignorant  of  the 
materials  on  which  you  work  and  the  various  styles  necessary  for 
various  occasions,  who  think  that  the  solemn  preaching  of  the 
gospel  to  men  who  laugh  at  it  and  make  a  mock  of  your  solemnity, 
is  the  only  suitable  course  for  all  occasions :  forgetting  that  saying, 
"  cast  not  pearls."  Now,  such  persons  may,  and  in  some  cases  do, 
from  honest  and  conscientious  ignorance,  and  in  good  faith,  feel 
that  a  "  free  handling  "of  scorners,  is  a  desecration  of  the  truth. 
Sixthly,  there  are  those  who,  knowing  better,  will,  from  mixed 
motives  noted  above,  play  on  the  honest  simplicity  of  godly  persons 
to  create  a  prejudice  against  you  which  they  know  to  be  foolish  in 
others  and  wicked  in  themselves. 

My  name  having  been  mentioned  to  some  of  the  officials  at  Clare - 
mont  Chapel,  Pentonville,  London,  preliminary  enquiries  were  made 
of  different  persons  as  to  their  impression  of  my  suitableness  in 
character  and  ability.     There  was  plainly  this  fear  in  the  minds  of 


131 

those  who  enquired, — that  I  should  be  fighting  with  infidelity  in  the 
pulpit — which,  in  one  sense,  I  do ;  whereas  it  is  to  me  always  a 
relief  to  turn  from  such  questions,  and  "  lie  down  in  green  pastures 
beside  the  still  waters  ;"  and  to  avoid  all  sound  of  axes  and  hammers 
in  the  temple,  having  shaped  and  settled  all  the  materials  before- 
hand. 

"  Whatever  brawls  disturb  the  street, 
There  should  be  peace  at  home," — 

was  part  of  the  earliest  poetry  which  I  learned,  and  has  described 
my  home  from  childhood  till  now  ;  still  I  cannot  wonder  at  the  im- 
pression produced  on  timid  and  retiring  minds,  by  the  exaggerated 
rumours  and  grotesque  reports  busily  circulated  by  baffled  infidels 
and  sympathizing  liberal  Christian  brethren,  respecting  a  style  of 
advocacy  of  which  they  are  profoundly  ignorant  and  the  fame  of 
which  they  envy.  I  believe  that  a  vague  impression  of  this  sort 
affected  the  form  of  enquiry  which  was  made  up  and  down  respecting 
me  by  those  who  entertained  the  thought  of  inviting  me  to  preach 
for  them  "  with  a  view."  This  I  gather  from  the  answers  which 
my  excellent  and  worthy  friend,  then  unacquainted  with  me,  re- 
ceived to  his  enquiries,  the  answers  to  which,  "  as  testimonials," 
I  now  possess,  to  the  writers  of  which  I  am  indebted,  and  especially 
to  the  Rev.  David  Loxton,  who  directly  met  that  point  of  prejudice 
from  misunderstanding  my  aim  and  spirit,  in  my  freer  treatment  of 
scoffers  who  could  appreciate  no  other  mode  than  mine,  and  were 
not  even  thankful  for  that. 

But  before  introducing  Mr.  Loxton's  letter,  I  shall  give  one 
which  removed  the  preliminary  scruples  as  to  the  advisability  of 
asking  me  to  "  supply"  at  "  Claremont." 


The  Rev.  J.  M.  Charlton,  M.A.,now  Professor  at  Western  College, 

Plymouth. 

"  Masbro',  June  19. 

"  My  dear  Sir, — I  am  greatly  obliged  by  your  kind  letter,  and  for 
the  confidence  you  repose  in  me  with  respect  to  the  affairs  of 
Claremont  chapel.  It  would  give  me  great  pleasure  to  hear  that 
you  were  comfortably  settled  with  a  pastor. 

"  I  entirely  sympathise  in  your  scruples  about  Mr.  Grant.  His 
engagements  during  the  last  two  or  three  years  have  been  such  as 
are  likely  to  give  a  somewhat  controversial  bias  to  his  mind  ;  still  I 
see  no  reason  why  he  should  not  form  a  very  excellent  settled  pastor. 


132 

I  am  quite  sure  he  possesses  energy,  tact,  and  elasticity  of  mind  to 
adapt  himself  to  any  circumstances,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  if  he 
were  your  minister,  he  would  throw  himself  heart  and  soul  into  all 
the  labours  necessary  to  raise  Claremont  to  its  ancient  prosperity. 
He  is  unquestionably  a  man  of  great  pulpit  as  well  as  platform  talent, 
and  I  should  expect  him  to  fill  your  chapel  in  a  short  time.  At  all 
events  there  could  be  no  harm,  I  think,  in  asking  him  to  supply  the 
pulpit  for  two  or  three  weeks.         Believe  me,  dear  Sir, 

"Very  sincerely  and  respectfully  yours, 

"  J.  M.  CHARLTON. 
"  Hugh  Owen,  Esq." 


The  Rev.  David  Loxton,  Sheffield. 

"  Sheffield,  July  23rd,  1856. 

"  Dear  Sir, — I  understand  that  my  dear  friend  and  brother,  Mr. 
Grant,  is  supplying  your  pulpit  at  Pentonville,  with  a  view  to  a 
settlement ;  and  as  I  know  that  the  peculiar  character  of  his  late 
mission  to  the  working  classes  has  excited  a  prejudice  against  him 
in  the  minds  of  some  good  people,  I  feel  that  as  an  old  friend  and 
*ellow- student,  who  has  had  much  intercourse  with  him  since  we  left 
college,  I  may  possibly  be  able  to  serve  him  by  telling  you  what  I 
know  about  him. 

"  It  would  be  quite  needless  for  me  to  say  anything  about  his 
learning  and  abilities,  in  which  he  is  second  to  no  minister  in  our 
denomination  of  the  same  age.  I  know  from  personal  intercourse 
with  him  that  the  mode  he  adopted  in  his  late  work  was  not  the  re- 
sult of  levity,  but  of  a  clear  and  deep  conviction  of  duty  to  Christ 
and  to  the  souls  of  men.  Should  any  persons  among  you  view  it  as 
an  error  (as  I  do  not  myself)  they  ought  to  regard  it  as  an  error  of 
judgment,  not  of  heart. 

"As  a  student,  Mr.  Grant  was  eminently  conscientious  and 
spiritually  minded,  a  man  of  prayer,  and  I  know  not  of  anyone  of 
my  fellow- students  in  whose  religious  sympathies  I  can  more  fully 
confide.  Hoping  you  will  excuse  the  liberty  I  have  taken  in  ad- 
dressing these  few  lines  to  you,  and  earnestly  praying  that  you  may 
be  directed  from  on  high  in  the  choice  of  a  pastor, 

"  I  am,  dear  Sir,  yours  faithfully, 

"  DAVID  LOXTON. 
"  Hugh  Owen,  Esq." 


133 

FROM   MY    PREVIOUS    CHURCH    IN    BIRMINGHAM. 

"  August,  1856. 

"  We,  the  undersigned,  deacons,  members  and  seat-holders  of 
Highbury  Chapel,  Birmingham,  understanding  that  our  late  pastor, 
the  Rev.  Brewin  Grant,  B.A.,  is  now  preaching  as  a  candidate  at 
Claremont  Chapel,  Pentonville,  London,  have  great  pleasure  in 
expressing  to  the  church  assembling  there  our  high  estimation  of  that 
gentleman's  qualifications  as  a  minister  of  the  gospel. 

"  For  several  years  he  was  greatly  esteemed  as  a  teacher  and 
pastor,  evinced  great  thoughtfulness  and  study  in  the  interpretation 
of  Scripture,  and  manifested  great  earnestness  in  the  application  of 
gospel  truth.  Many  were  benefited  by  his  public  ministrations ; 
while  his  visits  to  the  sick  and  dying  have  been  the  source  of 
gratitude  to  many. 

"  We  should  gladly  have  retained  him  as  our  pastor  but  for 
those  peculiar  circumstances  which  called  him  forth  to  a  wider 
sphere  of  labour,  in  which  we  rejoice  to  know  he  has  been  abun- 
dantly blessed  of  God.  And  now  that  his  work  in  that  sphere  is 
happily  accomplished  we  doubt  not  he  will  return  to  the  pastorate 
with  an  enlarged  experience,  which,  under  God,  will  render  his 
labours  more  efficient  than  ever,  and  add  largely  to  that  success 
which  in  our  midst  he  wTas  beginning  to  enjoy. 

"  To  speak  of  his  abilities  we  believe  would  be  superfluous  ;  but 
of  his  Christian  character,  his  love  of  his  work,  his  devotedness, 
his  sincerity,  his  earnestness,  his  transparency,  his  warmth,  his 
kindness — these  we  cannot  refrain  from  mentioning,  having  seen 
them  so  often  displayed  and  never  wanting. 

"  We  regard  him  as  especially  adapted  to  a  large  and  intelligent 
population,  and  shall  look  upon  it  as  an  earnest  of  good  things  to 
come  to  see  such  a  minister  settled  in  London,  surrounded  by  an 
energetic  Christian  people. 

"  In  this  expression  of  our  own  feelings  we  feel  confident  we 
represent  the  sentiments  of  all  who  have  enjoyed  Mr.  Grant's 
ministry  and  who  have  known  him  in  public  and  in  private. 

"  In  conclusion  we  would  say,  if  the  general  estimation  in  which 
Mr.  Grant  was  and  still  is  held  in  Birmingham  is  any  proof  of  his 
worth,  in  that  estimation  we  rejoice,  for  not  only  amongst  our  own 
people  was  he  beloved,  but  by  the  members  and  friends  of  other 
churches  and  denominations.  Should  it  please  Providence  to  place 
him  in  your  midst,  and  to  dispose  you  to  strengthen  and  uphold  his 


134 

hands,  it  is  our  belief  and  sincere  prayer  that  lasting  and  abundant 

good  will  be  the  result. 

"  JABEZ  FIDGIN,      ) 

"  WILLIAM  ROOKE,}  ■Ueacons- 

"J.  C.  STOKES,  Treasurer. 

"  T.  B.  WILKINS,  Superintendent  of  Girls'  School." 

Other  signatures  were  appended  (as  many  as  could  be  obtained 
in  time),  and  the  following  letter  was  sent  writh  the  address  : — 


"  From  the  Treasurer  op  my  previous  Church. 

"  Birmingham,  Aug.  15th,  1856. 

"  My  dear  Sir, — I  beg  to  hand  you  the  letter  referred  to  in  my 
last,  and  am  sorry  the  time  did  not  allow  of  the  matter  being  better 
known  to  our  people,  for  since  your  note  arrived  we  have  had  but 
one  service,  and  at  its  close  last  night  this  letter  was  signed.  This 
will  account  for  so  few  names  being  attached  thereto ;  but  certain 
I  am  that  not  one  of  our  church  or  congregation  would  withhold 
his  signature  if  the  opportunity  of  attaching  it  was  given.  Of  course 
the  circumstances  will  be  understood,  as  nothing  of  the  matter  was 
known  prior  to  last  evening.  If  signatures  would  help  the  case,  I 
could,  if  a  reasonable  time  were  given,  procure  one  from  every 
single  individual  who  knew  Mr.  Grant ;  for,  speak  to  whomsoever 
you  may  here  respecting  him,  the  feeling  is  the  same.  I  am  now 
speaking  of  those  who  knew  him,  for  certainly  if  anything  has  been 
said  of  him  at  any  time  in  the  form  of  disparagement,  it  has  been 
from  those  who  did  not  know  him.  I  believe  that  our  Mr.  Jones  has 
written  to  one  of  your  colleagues,  and  I  know  well,  if  he  has,  what 
the  nature  of  the  communication  will  be,  for  he  entertains  a  very  high 
opinion  of  his  predecessor.  I  may  just  observe,  that  to  my  mind  it 
is  rather  too  much  to  canvass  so  very  severely  the  character  of  a 
man  so  well  known,  and  who  has  lived  beloved  and  respected  so 
many  years  without  the  shadow  of  an  imputation ;  however, 
having  had  some  experience  in  this  sort  of  thing  myself,  I  can 
sympathize  with  you,  and  my  best  wishes  being  for  your  success, 
I  can  with  the  more  heartiness  advise  you  to  take  advantage  of  the 
present  opportunity  in  securing  the  man — the  genius — the  Chris- 
tian you  have  in  the  person  of  Brewin  Grant. 

"  Yours  very  truly, 

"J.  C.  STOKES." 


135 

From  my  Successor,  the  Rev.  J.  Rhys  Jones. 

"Birmingham,  May  loth,  1856. 

"  Dear  Sir, — I  am  very  much  surprised,  and  not  without  reason, 
at  the  receipt  of  your  note  of  inquiry  respecting  my  predecessor, 
the  Rev.  Brewin  Grant. 

11  Had  Mr.  Grant  been  an  unknown,  uncertificated  novice,  or  had 
he  been  either  intellectually  or  religiously  a  man  of  doubtful  repu- 
tation, or  if  no  previous  enquiries  had  been  made  about  him  in  this 
town,  or  if  the  impression  produced  by  those  enquiries  had  proved 
unfavourable,  then  I  could  clearly  see  why  additional  information 
concerning  him  should  be  deemed  necessary. 

"  As  the  case  stands,  however,  it  appears  to  me  worse  than  super- 
fluous to  seek  fresh  testimony  to  the  character  of  one  who  is  so  well 
known  in  this  country. 

"  I  believe  it  to  be  neither  possible  nor  desirable  that  any  minister 
should  be  more  highly  esteemed  and  respected  than  my  prede- 
cessor was  and  still  is  by  his  late  church  and  congregation  in  this 
town. 

"  They  all,  without  a  single  exception,  bear  the  most  unqualified 
testimony  to  his  valuable  worth  as  a  teacher,  a  friend,  and  a 
Christian.  And  all  I  have  heard  from  them  respecting  his  fine 
abilities,  loveable  spirit,  unworldly,  unselfish,  noble,  generous 
disposition,  and  general  excellency  of  character ;  I  have  found 
more  than  confirmed  by  an  intercourse  with  him  of  the  most  inti- 
mate kind,  though  not  of  equal  duration  with  theirs. 

"  To  my  congregation,  and  especially  to  a  congregation  having 
young  people  in  it,  his  ministrations  will  prove  a  most  covetable 
possession  ;  and  if  he  meet  with  a  people  by  whom  his  services  will 
be  appreciated  as  they  were  by  his  late  charge  at  Birmingham,  he 
will  be,  what  he  desires  and  deserves  to  be, — a  useful,  happy,  and 
beloved  minister  of  Jesus  Christ. 

"  Believe  me,  dear  sir,  yours  very  truly, 

"  J.  RHYS  JONES. 

"H.  Owen,  Esq.,  Whitehall,  London." 


From  the  South  Staffordshire  Congregational  Union. 
"  Westbromwich,  August  7th,  1856. 
"  We,  the  undersigned  members  of  the  above  union,  understanding 
that  the  Rev.  Brewin  Grant,  B.A.,  who  has  been  for  some  seven 
years  a  member  with  us,  is  about  to  return  to  the  pastorate   from 


136 

his  late  mission,  in  which  his  usefulness  is  known  to  all,  have  great 
pleasure  in  recommending  him  to  the  confidence  of  the  churches. 
Most  of  us  have  known  him  for  some  time  intimately,  and  can  hear 
cordial  testimony  to  his  Christian  character  and  ministerial  adapta- 
tion. Trusting  that  he  will  be  guided  to  a  sphere  in  which  his 
superior  qualifications  will  he  exercised  and  blessed,  we  commend 
him  to  God  and  the  word  of  his  grace. 

ROBERT  DAVIE  S,  Bilston. 
WILLIAM  CREED,  Westbromwich. 
THOMAS  ARNOLD,  Smethwick. 
W.  ROBERTSON,  Wednesbury. 
R.  D.  WILSON,  Wolverhampton. 


The  Rev.  W.  Creed,  Secretary  of  the  South   Staffordshire 
Association. 

"West  Bromwich,  South  Staffordshire, 

August  8th,  1856. 
"Dear  Sir, — I  take  the  liberty  of  forwarding  to  you  the  enclosed 
Testimonial  in  favour  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Grant,  who,  I  understand, 
has  been  supplying  the  pnlpit  of  Claremont  Chapel. 

"My  time  permitted  me  to  call  upon  those  of  my  brethren  only 
who  reside  near  West  Bromwich,  the  signatures  of  some  of  whom  I 
was  unable  to  procure  on  account  of  their  absence  from  home.  The 
Rev.  J.  Hammond,  of  Handsworth,  and  other  brethren  would,  I 
feel  assured,  have  signed  it,  if  I  could  have  met  with  them. 

"From  personal  knowledge  of  Mr.  Grant  I  can  say,  Qie  more  I 
know  of  him  the  more  highly  do  I  esteem- 
"  I  am,  dear  Sir, 

"  Yours  very  truly, 

"WILLIAM  CREEx,, 
"  Secretary  of  the  South  Staffordshire  Association./.' 
"Hugh  Owen,  Esq." 


From  other  Birmingham  Ministers, — the  Rev.  Robert 
Alfred  Vaughan,  B.A. 

17th  August,  1856. 

"  Sir, — Having  understood  that  there  are  those  at  Claremont 
Chapel  who  are  desirous  of  receiving  some  testimony  in  behalf  of 
thu  Rev.  Brewin  Grant,  from  his  ministerial  brethren  in  Birmingham, 
I  have  much  pleasure  in  contributing  my  share  therein. 


137 

"  Mr.  Grant  and  I  were  contemporaries  in  Birmingham  for  two 
or  three  years.  My  intercourse  with  him  was  always  a  gratification 
to  me ;  and  when  I  came  to  Birmingham  I  found  that  he  enjoyed 
(as  he  did  to  the  close  of  his  stay  there)  the  full  confidence  and 
regard  of  his  ministerial  brethren,  as  a  man  of  unblemished  Chris- 
tian consistency,  of  eminen!;  intellectual  vigour  and  acuteness,  and  of 
great  activity  and  diligence.  As  a  preacher,  I  found  his  reputation 
especially  high  as  an  expositor  of  Scripture,  and  that  his  discourses 
were  remarkably  calculated  to  attract  young  men,  and  to  instruct  all 
in  a  discriminating  and  thoughtful  understanding  of  the  word  of  God. 

"  With  the  best  wishes  for  the  prosperity  of  the  Church  to  which 
you  belong,  I  am,  Sir, 

"  Truly  yours, 

"  ROBERT  ALFRED  VAUGHAN."* 

"Mr.  Owen." 


The  Rev.  John  Angell  James. 

"  Edgbaston,  August  14th. 

"  My  dear  Sir, — In  reply  to  your  inquiries  about  Mr.  Grant,  I 
can  bear  testimony  to  his  irreproachable  morals  during  his  residence 
in  this  town ;  not  a  shade  of  suspicion  ever  passed  over  his  character. 
Of  his  talents  it  is  quite  unnecessary  for  me  to  speak,  after  the 
publicity  and  popularity  he  acquired  during  his  important  mission 
as  a  combatant  in  the  arena  of  infidelity.  I  believe  he  did  great 
service  in  rebuking  the    audacious  atheistic  spirit  of  the  age,  at 

•  This  promising  young  minister,  with  whom  I  several  times  went  out  to  walk 
to  improve  his  health,  and  who  injured  himself  by  over-much  study,  or  rather  by 
too  little  exercise,  on  which  I  earnestly  warned  him,  when  perhaps  it  was  too  late, 
contributed  to  "  The  Bible  and  the  Pet  *.-"  the  "  the  articles"  mentioned  on  page 
60,  "  Passages  from  the  life  of  an  Enquirer."  His  lamented  early  death  is  thus 
gracefully,  though  briefly,  referred  to  in  the  Pall  Mall  Budget,  Jan.  23,  1867, 
in  a  notice  of  his  father,  the  Rev.  Robert  Vaughax,  L.L.D. 

"  The  great  grief  of  Dr.  Yaughan's  life  was  the  death  of  a  very  distinguished 
and  excellent  son,  a  grief  for  which,  like  the  similarly  afflicted  historian  Hallam, 
he  sought  consolation  in  compiling  a  memoir  of  the  departed.  Sir  James  Stephen, 
writing  of  Alfred  Vaughan  to  his  sorrowing  j  arent,  said,  '  He  seemed  to  me 
formed  to  add  another  name  to  those  of  the  great  Konconformists  of  the  seven- 
teenth and  eighteenth  centuries,  and  to  throw  over  whatever  he  might  undertake 
not  a  little  of  that  more  elaborate  polish  which  the  scholars  of  Oxford  and  Cam- 
bridge have  been  accustomed  to  regard  as  their  peculiar  boast.'  " 

I  regard  it  as  an  honour  to  have  been  his  Mend,  and  insert  his  letter  with  a 
mournful  satisfaction. 


138 

least,  as  it  exists  amongst  a  large  portion  of  the  labouring  classes. 
I  think  it  of  some  importance  that  Mr.  Grant  should  be  located 
in  the  metropolis,  either  as  pastor  of  a  church,  or  as  a  public 
lecturer. 

"  Yours  truly, 

"  J.  A.  JAMES." 


The  Rev.  Charles  Vince,  Baptist  Minister. 

"  Soho  Park,  Birmingham,  Aug.  15,  1856. 
"  Dear  Sir, — I  have  been  in  London  the  last  fortnight  supplying 
at  Bloomsbury  for  my  friend  Mr.  Brock.     While  there  I  heard  that 
Mr.  Grant  had  been  supplying  recently  at  Claremont  Chapel,  on 
probation. 

"  Will  you  allow  me  to  bear  testimony  to  the  high  esteem  for 
ability  and  character  in  which  Mr.  Grant  was  held  by  my  congrega- 
tion and  myself  during  his  ministry  at  Highbury  Chapel,  in  this 
town. 

"  Mr.  Grant's  chapel  is  in  the  same  street  and  immediately  oppo- 
site my  own,  so  that  I  had  great  facility  for  forming  an  opinion." 
"  I  hope  a  sphere  will  be  found  for  him  in  London  in  which 
his  success  may,  under  God's  blessing,  be  commensurate  with  his 
mental  power  and  moral  worth.  I  would  gladly  do  much  to  testify 
my  great  esteem  for  him. 

"  Yours  truly, 

" CHARLES  VINCE, 
"  Minister,  Graham-st.  (Baptist)  Chapel,  Birmingham." 


The  Rev.  Isaac  New,  (Baptist.) 

"Birmingham,  Aug.  15,  1856. 

"  Dear  Sir, — When  Mr.  Grant  was  settled  in  Birmingham  I  was 
often  brought  in  contact  with  him,  as  a  minister  located  near  me, 
and  I  think  I  knew  him  well,  though  there  was  never  between  us 
what  might  be  called  the  intimacy  of  friendship  ;  yet  our  intimacy 
was  always  marked  by  the  greatest  cordiality.  Honest,  upright, 
straight-forward,  kind,  generous,  always  struck  me  as  features  in 
his  character;  perfectly  free  from  anything  like  meanness  or 
selfishness,  and  utterly  self- forgetful  where  he  could  do  a  kindness 
or  confer  a  favour. 

"  I  did  not  often  hear  him  preach,  but  when  I  did,  his  sermons 
always  evinced  a  very  superior  mind,  distinguished  by  great  acute- 
ness  and  logical  power.  His  mental  independence  and  fearlessness 
often  carried  out  of  the  beaten  track  of  thought,  and  imparted  an 


139 

originality  to  his  discourses  which  not  unfrequently  awakened  sur- 
prise, and  it  might  be,  a  little  suspicion  as  to  the  orthodoxy  of 
his  views,  but  I  believe  perfectly  groundless.  The  time  that  he  was 
in  Birmingham  was  one  of  very  great  agitation  on  many  questions 
of  public  interest,  and  from  his  controversial  skill  great  numbers 
were  at  times  drawn  to  hear  him.  This  made  him  popular  with  many, 
yet  increased  the  hostility  of  those  who  differed  from  him ;  but  the 
hostility  was  only  transient ;  for  I  apprehend  it  would  be  difficult  for 
any  one  to  be  long  hostile  against  a  man  so  really  ingenuous  and 
good-natured,  however  they  might  feel  in  reference  to  his  opinions. 
But  in  the  midst  of  all,  his  character  was,  as  far  as  my  knowledge 
extends  without  a  stain,  and  above  suspicion  and  reproach. 

"  I  do  not  know  that  I  can  add  anything  more  than  to  say  that  I 
should  feel  glad  to  hear  of  his  being  settled  over  a  church  which 
would  fully  appreciate  his  intellectual  and  moral  worth. 
"  I  am,  dear  Sir,  yours  trulv, 

"ISAAC  NEW, 
"Baptist  Minister,  Birmingham.' 


The    Rev.    Thos.    Swan,  (Baptist,)  the   oldest  Minister  in 
Birmingham. 

"  Birmingham,  Aug.  14,  1656. 

"  Dear  Sir, — I  am  informed  that  the  Rev.  B.  Grant  has  been 
preaching  inClaremont  Chapel.  I  hope  he  may  meet  with  acceptance 
among  the  friends,  and  (D.  V.)  may  become  the  settled  minister  and 
pastor. 

"  He  is  a  man  and  minister  for  whom  I  have  always  entertained 
the  highest  esteem — not  only  on  account  of  his  uncommon  talent, 
but  his  piety  and  ministerial  ability — his  original  and  instructive 
preaching.  You  are,  doubtless,  aware  of  his  disinterested  labours 
against  the  enemies  of  the  truth  in  many  parts  of  the  country. 
Perhaps  London  might  be  the  best  sphere  for  Mr.  Grant.  I  hope 
this  note  may  not  be  deemed  intrusive,  I  felt  it  my  duty,  in  the  circum- 
stances, to  write  ;  and  if  it  be  the  divine  will,  should  be  most  happy 
to  hear  of  Mr.  Grant's  settlement  amongst  you,  as,  if  I  am  not 
mistaken,  I  think  you  will  find  him  a  Pastor  after  God's  own  heart, 
who  will  feed  you  with  "  knowledge  and  understanding."  Wishing 
you  divine  direction  in  this  important  matter, 

"  I  am,  yours  very  truly  and  respectfully. 

«"T.  SWAN. 
"Hugh  Owen,  Esq."  *L 

f2 


14-0 

The  Rev.  Alexander  Thomson,  M.A. 

South  Shore,  Blackpool,  July  24,  1856. 
"  Dear  Sir, — I  have  just  heard  that  the  Rev.  Brewin  Grant  is 
preaching  at  present  to  the  congregation  in  Clareniont  chapel,  in 
which  you  hold  an  official  position,  and  I  think  that  by  expressing 
to  you  frankly  my  opinion  of  Mr.  Grant — of  which  you  may  make 
whatever  use  you  please — I  shall  not  be  transgressing  the  limits  of 
propriety,  which  should  be  regarded  in  such  circumstances. 

"  I  had  the  pleasure  of  knowing  Mr.  Grant  intimately  when  he 
was  a  student  in  Glasgow,  just  before  his  settlement  as  a  minister 
in  Lancashire  ;  and  I  have  met  with  him  at  different  times  since 
then,  and  have  all  along  felt  an  interest  in  his  career.  I  esteem 
him  very  highly  as  one  of  the  most  sincere,  earnest,  and  truth-loving 
men  ;  I  know  him  to  be  possessed  of  genuine  amiability  and  good- 
ness of  heart,  combined  with  firmness  and  decision  ;  and  I  feel 
convinced  that  in  order  to  respect  and  love  him,  whether  as  a 
Christian  friend  or  as  a  minister  of  the  Gospel,  it  is  only  necessary 
to  know  him  thoroughly.  I  do  not  think  it  needful  to  speak  of  his 
talent  and  mental  characteristics,  because  those  have  been  so  un- 
mistakably displayed,  and  have  received  such  extensive  recognition, 
that  it  is  quite  superfluous  to  bear  testimony  to  them.  I  know  that 
no  one  who  has  appeared  in  Glasgow  to  address  popular  audiences 
has  ever  excited  more  enthusiastic  admiration  than  Mr.  Grant  did 
on  the  occasion  of  his  visit  in  1853  and  subsequently,  and  I  do 
not  know  where  you  will  find  on  the  whole  more  competent  judges 
than  among  the  active  Christian  men  of  that  city. 

"It  would  give  me  great  pleasure  to  hear  of  Mr.  Grant's  being 
called  to  occupy  such  an  influential  sphere  of  Christian  usefulness 
as  Claremont  chapel  or  any  similar  position.  Indeed,  after  the 
good  service  he  has  done,  it  would  be  strangely  discreditable  to  us 
if  he  found  any  difficulty  in  obtaining  such  a  position.  I  feel  con- 
vinced that  he  would  fill  it  with  great  advantage  to  the  interests  of 
the  Gospel  and  men's  souls. 

Excuse  the  freedom  with  which  I  have  written,  though  a  stranger 
to  you,  and  praying  that  you  may  be  wisely  directed. 

Believe  me  to  be,  dear  Sir, 

Yours  truly, 

ALEXANDER  THOMSON, 
Formerly  of  Glasgow,  now  minister  of  Rushholme- 
road  Chapel,  Manchester. 
H.  Owen,  Esq. 


141 

The  Rev.  Thos.  Raffles,  LL.D.,  of  Liverpool. 

"  Kingstown  Co.,  Dublin,  July  23,  185G. 

"  Dear  Sir, — By  a  letter  from  my  old  friend,  the  Rev.  Brewin 
Grant,  which  has  been  forwarded  to  me  here,  I  find  that  he  has 
been  preaching  at  Claremont  chapel,  with  a  view  to  a  settlement 
there.  Now,  my  interest  in  Mr.  Grant,  who  laboured  for  some  time 
at  Prescot,  near  Liverpool,  and  the  concern  I  cannot  but  feel  for  the 
prosperity  of  the  Redeemer's  cause  at  Claremont  Chapel,  at  the 
opening  of  which  I  preached,  lead  me  to  say — if  I  may  be  permitted 
to  do  so  without  incurring  the  charge  of  obtrusiveness — that  I  shall 
be  glad  to  hear  of  such  a  union  having  taken  place.  Mr.  Grant  has 
rendered  good  service  to  the  cause  of  revealed  religion  by  his  able 
and  successful  advocacy,  carried  on  against  the  infidel  party  for 
several  years  ;  and  now,  I  believe,  he  desires  a  more  quiet  and 
settled  course  of  usefulness ;  and  for  a  suburban  congregation  in 
the  great  metropolis,  such  as  yours,  I  should  deem  him  eminently 
qualified.  While  in  Lancashire,  he  enjoyed  the  esteem  and  con- 
fidence of  us  all,  and  since  then  he  has  lived  too  much  in  the  view 
of  the  churches  and  the  public  to  need  any  testimony  beyond  that 
which  his  own  labours  supply. 

'•  Pardon  this  freedom,  and  believe  me,  dear  Sir,  faithfully  yours, 

"  Hugh  Owen,  Esq."  THOS.  RAFFLES. 


The  Rev.  Enoch  Mellor,  M.A. 

"  Halifax,  July  24,  1856. 
11  My  dear  Sir, — Though  I  am  entirely  unknown  to  you  personally 
(and  perhaps  by  name),  I  cannot  resist  the  temptation  to  write  to 
you  in  the  present  crisis  of  your  church.  I  have  only  just  learned 
that  Mr.  Grant  has  been  supplying  for  you,  and  it  would  afford  me 
the  highest  pleasure  if,  in  the  course  of  Divine  Providence,  he  should 
become  your  pastor.  I  have  known  him  for  several  years — have 
seen  much  of  him,  and  can  speak  of  his  piety,  his  ability,  his 
generous  and  benevolent  spirit  in  the  most  unmeasured  and  un- 
qualified terms.  There  are  special  reasons  at  the  present  time 
why  Mr.  Grant  should  have  a  metropolitan  position.  His  endow- 
ments eminently  befit  him  for  grappling  with  those  Protean  forms  of 
unbelief  which  are  sapping  the  foundation  of  our  common  faith.  It 
has  often  been  to  me  a  source  of  gratification  and  gratitude  that  his 
talents  have  been  so  thoroughly  consecrated  to  the  service  of  God  ; 
and  I  can  attest  from  observation  that  his  labours  have  been  pre- 
eminentlv  successful  in  the  North  of  England. 
"f8 


142 

"I  cannot  speak  of  his  pastoral  qualifications  never  having  seen 
him  in  relations  which  called  them  forth,  but  feel  proud  in  bearing 
my  testimony  (such  as  it  is)  to  his  admirable  fitness  in  other  respects 
ior  the  pulpit  of  Pentonville. 

"  Excuse  my  seeming  ofiiciousness,  and  believe  me  to  be, 

"  Yours  very  truly, 

"  ENOCH  MELLOR." 

The  Rev.  R.  D.  Wilson,  now  of  Ceaven  Chapel,  London. 
"  Telford  Place,  Wolverhampton, 

"  August  6th,  1856. 
11  Gentlemen, — I  have  heard  with  great  pleasure  that  my  intimate 
and  highly  esteemed  friend  the  Rev.  B.  Grant,  is  now  supplying 
your  pulpit  with  a  view  to  settlement.  Having  been  intimately 
acquainted  with  Mr.  Grant  for  the  last  four  years,  I  can  most  con- 
fidently bear  testimony  to  his  ability  and  worth. 

"  I  must  say  that  I  know  of  no  single  man  who  possesses  so  many 
qualifications  necessary  to  a  high  and  permanent  popularity  and 
usefulness.  The  moral  qualities  of  his  nature  are  by  no  means 
inferior  to  his  intellectual  endowments ;  in  addition  to  high  moral 
integrity,  he  is  generous,  unselfish,  and  self-sacrificing  to  a  fault. 
In  a  sphere  such  as  yours,  affording  large  scope  for  his  various 
talents,  I  feel  assured  that — with  God's  blessing — he  would  soon 
become  a  most  successful  and  valuable  minister  of  Christ.  It  is  a 
strong  conviction  that  the  Metropolis  is  the  place  for  Mr.  Grant, 
which  has  induced  me  thus  to  address  you. 

"  Earnestly  hoping  that  he  may  become  your  pastor, 
"  I  remain,  Gentlemen, 

"  Yours  in  the  gospel, 

"  R.  D.  WILSON." 
"  To  the  Deacons  of  Claremont  Chapel." 


Rev.  J.  W.  Richardson,  now  at  Rotheeham. 

"  Tottenham  Court  Chapel, 

"Vestry,  July  24th,  1856. 
"  Dear  Sir, — I  was  glad  to  see,  in  passing  Claremont  Chapel  the 
other  day,  that  the  Rev.  Brewin  Grant  is  supplying  for  you.  He  is 
an  excellent  man  and  seems  to  me  well-fitted  for  such  a  sphere  as 
that  of  Pentonville.  I  shall  be  glad  to  learn  that  he  has  received  a 
unanimous  invitation  from  the  members  of  the  Church  and 
congregation. 


H3 

"  He  is  a  man  of  considerable  power,  and  with  the  Divine  blessing, 
would,  I  doubt  not,  prove  an  acquisition  to  the  Metropolis. 
"  You  will  excuse  the  liberty  I  take  in  thus  addressing  you. 
"  Praying  that  you  may  be  directed  aright, 
"I  am,  dear  Sir, 

"Yours  trulv, 
"H.  Owen,  Esq.  J.  W.  RICHARDSON. 


The  Rev.  Dr.  S.  McAll,  then  of  Nottingham,  now  Professor, 
Hackney  College. 

"  Nottingham,  July  22,  1856. 

"  Dear  Sir, — I  hope  I  shall  be  excused  for  what  may  appear  an 
intrusion  in  addressing  a  few  lines  to  you,  as  an  officer  of  the  church 
at  Claremont,  at  the  present  moment  when  the  Rev.  Brewin  Grant 
is  before  you  as  a  candidate.  My  sole  object  is  to  state  to  you,  and 
through  you  to  others  should  you  think  proper,  how  deep  a  sense  I 
have  of  the  obligations  under  which  the  cause,  not  of  our  own  deno- 
mination, but  of  our  common  Christianity,  has  been  laid  by  his 
public  efforts.  The  great  ability  as  well  as  the  zeal  with  which  he 
has  defended  the  cause  of  truth  has  made  a  decided  and  sensible 
impression  upon  the  general  mind  of  our  countrymen,  so  far  as  I 
have  had  an  opportunity  of  judging;  and  I  believe  I  may  especially 
speak  with  confidence  as  to  the  young,  the  enquiring,  the  thinking 
part  of  the  community. 

"  I  think  our  highly  gifted  and  honoured  friend  is  well  aware  of 
the  class  of  efforts  requisite  in  order  to  pastoral  success.  Here 
indeed  another  line  of  things  than  that  in  which  he  has  so  much 
shone,  is  demanded :  but  he  has  all  the  abilities  necessary  to  adapt 
himself  to  this  particular  sphere  of  duty.  I  believe  he  will  adorn 
any  such  position  to  which  he  is  called  by  a  very  consistent  example, 
and  by  a  truly  kind  and  affectionate  spirit. 

"  It  has  appeared  to  me  that  as  we  all  owe  a  debt  to  Mr.  G.  for 
his  lectures  in  the  general  cause,  I  should  not  perhaps  be  thought 
to  step  out  of  my  place  if  I  were  at  such  a  moment  to  testify  the 
esteem  in  which  Mr.  Grant  is  held  by, 

"  Dear  Sir,  vours  very  respectfully, 

"  H.  Owen,  Esq."  "  S.  McALL. 


The  Rev.  Watson  Surrra,  now  of  Wilmslow,  near  Manchester. 
11  5,  Belsize  Terrace,  Hampstead, 

August  4th,  1856. 
Dear  Sir,— Finding  that  the  Rev.  B.  Grant,  B.A.,  late  of  Bir- 
mingham, has  been  supplying  Claremont   chapel  during  the   la/ 


144 

three  or  four  sabbaths,  I  cannot  but  transmit  to  you  and  the 
deacons  of  the  church  there,  my  cordial  testimony  to  his  great 
ability, — singular  aptness  to  teach, — and  adaptedness  to  all  classes 
of  hearers, — high  christian  character  and  worth.  I  knew  him  well 
when  I  was  settled  at  Wolverhampton,  in  Staffordshire,  and  can 
speak  therefore  from  a  nearer  and  closer  point  of  view  than  most. 
It  is  simply  I  feel  it,  a  matter  of  duty  to  him,  and  the  church  of 
Christ  to  communicate  something  of  what  I  know  respecting  his 
extraordinary  qualifications  for  usefulness.  There  is  no  man  I 
know  who  is  in  all  respects  so  well  fitted  to  deal  with  the  present 
times,  and  the  men  of  the  times.  Thoroughly  grounded  in  the 
great  distinctive  doctrines  of  our  common  Christianity, — admirably 
fitted  for  their  assertion  and  defence.  I  cannot  but  augur  for  him 
a  course  oi  large  usefulness  wherever  he  is  settled.  And  he  is  one 
who  the  better  known  the  more  fully  will  he  be  estimated ;  who, 
beneath  the  mere  surface,  bears  as  noble  and  generous  a  Christian 
heart  and  temper  as  any  brother  in  the  ministry  I  have  met  with. 
I  trust  that  you  and  the  brother  deacons  of  Claremont  chapel,  will 
excuse  one  personally  unknown,  for  sending  this  word  of  testimony, 
and  hearty  well  wishing  on  behalf  of  a  valued  friend  and  servant  of 
Christ. 

Believe  me  my  dear  Sir,  yours  sincerely, 

WATSON  SMITH. 
(Then  Minister  of  "  New  College  "  Chapel). 


''The  Rev.  William  Anderson,  LL.D.,  Glasgow. 
"  Clyde-side  Cottage,  Uddingston, 

"Near  Glasgow,  July  23rd,  1856. 
"  To  Mr.  Owen. — The  Rev.  Brewin  Grant  has  requested  a  note 
from  me  to  you  in  his  favour  as  a  candidate  for  the  office  of  pastor 
in  Claremont  Chapel.  I  am  somewhat  surprised  there  should  be 
any  need  for  this :  I  thought  his  fame  was  what  it  deserves  to  be — 
kingdom-wide.  Of  his  intellectual  gifts,  universally  acknowledged 
to  be  so  rare,  I  shall  not  say  a  word.  Those,  however,  who  know 
only  of  his  public  character  will  be  gratified  to  be  assured  from  one 
who  has  had  experience  of  him  most  intimately  at  home  (my  own 
home,  I  mean),  in  the  family  circle,  in  the  library  when  only  we 
two  were  there,  in  his  freest,  most  confidential  hours  he  ever  mani- 
fested that  his  appearance  of  zeal  in  public  in  defence  of  the  faith 
is  the  zeal  of  personal  conviction.  Some  friends  may  also  be 
gratified  in  being  assured  that  he  who  is  so  defiant  and  scornful  of 
the  enemy  in  public  is,   in  private,    not  only  one   of  the    most 


145 

courteous  and  kind  of  men,  but  as  little  of  a  self-sufficient  or 
opinionative  character  as  any  man  of  talents  with  whom  I  ever  met. 
His  modesty  is  at  times  painful.  Let  me  state  that,  when  once 
visiting  our  house  he  found  my  late  wife  worse  than  he  had  been 
taught  to  expect  and  showing  signs  of  a  dissolution  not  far  distant, 
he,  without  signifying  his  apprehensions,  guided  the  conversation 
at  tea  with  such  tenderness  and  insinuations  of  Christian  comfort 
that  the  remembrance  and  influence  of  it  remained  with  her  for 
months,  till  death.  When  he  is  withdrawn  from  the  arena  of  public 
debate  and  allowed  to  settle  down  in  the  quietude  of  the  pastorate, 
there  w  11  be  few  churches  I  am  persuaded  in  our  land  favoured 
with  a  ministry  so  excellent. 

"  I  am,  dear  Sir, 

Yours  in  good  faith  and  in  the  bonds  of  Christian  love, 
"WILLIAM  ANDERSON,  LL.D., 

'  Minister  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church,  John-street,  Glasgow." 


The  Rev.  De.  Halley,  now  Professor  in  new  College, 
St.  John's  Wood. 

Manchester,  July  30th,  1856. 

"  My  dear  Sir, — I  learn  from  Mr.  Grant  that  he  has  been  preach- 
ing at  Claremont.  I  do  not  write  to  interfere  at  all  with  the 
judgment  of  your  church,  but  I  do  not  think  it  will  be  wrong  to  say 
that  his  settlement  in  London  would  be,  in  my  opinion,  of  great 
service  to  the  cause  of  religion.  Of  his  preaching  I  do  not  intend' 
to  speak,  for  I  have  never  heard  him,  but  of  his  general  ability  and 
character  I  have  the  highest  estimate. 

"  As  he  wishes  me  to  state  my  opinion,  1  can  do  so  with  con- 
fidence,— my  absence  from  home  has  prevented  me  from  doing  it 
earlier. 

"  I  remain,  yours  verv  truly, 

"  Hugh  Owen,  Esq."  "  ROBERT  HALLEY." 


The  Rev.  James  Parsons,  of  York. 

"York,  August  1,  1856, 
"  Dear  Sir, — I  understand  that  the  Rev.  Brewin  Grant  has  been 
supplying  the  pulpit  of  Claremont  Chapel  recently  ;  and  that  there 
is  a  disposition  to  invite  him  to  become  the  pastor  of  the  church 
assembling  there.  Perhaps  I  may  be  allowed,  without  intrusion,  to 
render  a  brief  testimony  on  Mr.  Grant's  behalf.  I  believe  his 
character  to  be  thoroughly  consistent ;  his  abilities  speak  for  them- 
selves, and  I  should  be  glad  to  see  them  engaged  in  the  regular 


146 

exercise  of  the  Christian  ministry.  It  is  of  course  important  that 
the  sphere  at  Claremont  should  be  efficiently  occupied.  Pardon  me 
Sir,  thus  addressing  you,  and  believe  me, 

"  Dear  Sir,  yours  sincerely, 

"  JAMES  PARSONS. 
"  Hugh  Owen,  Esq." 


The  Rev.  Dr.  Morton  Brown,  Cheltenham. 

"Cheltenham,  23rd  July,  1856. 
*'  My  dear  Sir, — I  have  heard,  with  great  satisfaction,  that  Mr. 
Grant  is  now  supplying  at  Claremont.  There  are  so  many  associa- 
tions connected  with  our  denomination,  immediately  attached  to 
Claremont,  that,  with  multitudes,  I  cannot  but  feel  a  peculiar  interest 
in  the  welfare  of  the  Church  of  the  late  Mr.  Blackburn.  I  do  hope 
God  will  direct  you  in  your  present  circumstances. 

"  Mr.  Grant  is  so  excellent  in  himself  as  a  devoted  Christian  and 
Christian  minister,  that  he  requires  no  word  of  commendation  from 
any  one.  But  from  my  intimate  knowledge  of  him,  my  attachment 
to  him,  my  belief  in  the  growth  of  his  Christian  character  and  gospel 
ministrations,  arising  from  his  late  engagements,  I  have  a  deep 
conviction  of  his  suitableness  for  Claremont.  Forgive  my  saying  so, 
I  could  not  but  forward  to  you  this  utterance.  May  the  Deacons 
and  Church  be  divinely  directed. 

"  Yours  very  truly, 

"A.  "MORTON  BROWN." 


The  Rev.  Dr.  George  Legge,  of  Leicester. 
"  London  Milton  Club, 

"  24th  July,  1856. 
"  Dear  Sir, — On  my  arrival  here  last  night,  I  found  a  communi 
cation  from  Leicester,  the  sphere  of  my  ministry,  from  a  friend  of 
the  Rev.  Brewin  Grant's.    I  am  informed  that  he  has  been  preaching 
at  Claremont  Chapel,  not  without  an  inclination  to  settle  there  if 
approved,  and  that  a  word  from  me  to  one  of  the  Deacons  of  Clare- 
mont might  be  of  service  to  him.  If  any  one  has  the  right  and  power 
to  speak  on  his  behalf,  I  more.      I  have  known  and  loved  him  from 
his  boyhood.     From  a  conviction  of  his  piety,  I  received  him  into 
the  fellowship  of  the  church  ;  and  from  an  appreciation  of  his  talent 
I  was  helpful  to  his  introduction  to  the  ministry.     I  have  never 
since  had  reason  to  entertain  a  doubt  of  his  piety,  and  he  has  vindi- 
cated his  talent  before   all  the  world.     I  may  say  that  I  am,  in  a 
measure,  glad  that  he  has  given  up  his  'mission,'  which  was,  I  think, 


147 

more  profitable  to  others  than  to  himself,  though  it  must  have 
augmented  greatly  his  natural  mastery  of  language  and  thought,  and 
I  shall  be  most  happy  to  hear  of  his  settlement  in  a  sphere  where 
he  may  make  fuller  proof  of  his  ministry  and  of  the  various  gifts 
which  God  has  lavishly  conferred  on  him.  It  strikes  me  that  Clare- 
mont  Chapel  is  such  a  sphere, — and  I  am  persuaded  that,  under  his 
auspices,  it  would  attain  to  a  prosperity  such  as  it  knew  not,  even 
in  its  palmiest  times. 

"  Mr.  Grant  is  under  engagement  to  take  my  pulpit  during  my 
holiday,  on  the  first  Sunday  in  August ;  and  I  mention  this  to  say, 
that  contrary  to  the  proverb,  "a  prophet  hath  no  honour  in  his 
own  country," — he  will  be  the  most  popular  of  all  my  supplies,  with 
crowded  congregations.  There  where  he  is  entirely  known,  he  is 
held  in  highest  esteem. 

"I  am,  dear  Sir, 

"Yours  truly, 

" GEORGE  LEGGE. 


Chapter  XIY. 

THE  MIDNIGHT  TELEGRAM.     OUR  FIRST 

DISAPPOINTMENT  ;     OUR  FIRST  GREAT  SORROW  ;  AND 

SETTLEMENT  IN  SHEFFIELD.     1856-7. 

There  were  so  many  encouraging  circumstances  in  connection  with 
my  candidature  at  Claremont  chapel,  that  I  was  induced  to  almost 
hope  for  what  I  desired.  There  was  also  a  general  feeling  of  confi- 
dence among  the  people  as  far  as  I  could  observe  and  learn,  as  well 
as  on  the  part  of  the  deacons,  who  behaved  to  me  with  exceeding 
kindness. 

Hugh  Owen,  Esq.,  one  of  the  permanent  officials  of  the  Poor 
Law  Board,  was  the  corresponding  deacon,  and  while  I  was  in 
London,  I  was  much  at  his  house.  On  the  7th  of  August,  1856,  he 
wrote  to  me  saying  : — "  Many  thanks  for  your  very  satisfactory 
note.  We  had  bills  printed  announcing  you  for  the  next  two  Sundays. 
I  would  therefore  suggest  that  you  should  give  to  Daventry  the  fol- 
lowing Sunday.  It  is  really  important  with  reference  to  the  com- 
pletion of  the  '  call'  that  you  should  be  with  us  for  the  next  two 
Sundays." 


148 

The  "  trust  deed"  of  the  chapel  laid  down  some  very  compli- 
cated regulations  which  the  deacons  endeavoured  to  follow,  as  far  as 
they  understood.  One  regulation  was,  I  think,  that  one  church 
meeting  should  be  held  to  call  another  within  a  fixed  time  ;  and  it 
is  naturally  supposed  that  the  agreement  to  call  a  meeting  for 
deciding  on  the  choice  of  any  single  minister  is  so  far  a  proof  that 
he  is  acceptable.  Accordingly  it  was  almost  regarded  as  settled, 
as  in  the  following  letter : — "  I  am  thankful  to  inform  you  that  the 
church  at  Claremont  chapel  decided  last  evening  on  giving  your 
dear  husband  a  call  to  the  pastorate  of  the  church.  I  trust  that 
the  future  will  show  that  the  good  hand  of  God  ruled  in  this 
matter." 

I  was  travelling  at  the  time,  and  Mr.  Owen  kindly  sent  this  noti- 
fication to  Mrs.  Grant,  while  to  me  he  wrote  more  fully,  saying  : — 
"  We  got  through  the  business  of  last  evening  in  a  tolerably  satis- 
factory manner.  The  church  resolved  to  instruct  the  deacons  to  take 
the  necessary  steps  to  give  you  a  call  to  the  pastorate,  and  steps 
will  be  taken  accordingly  without  delay.  There  was  not  the  unani- 
mity manifested  that  one  would  desire  ;  but  there  was  sufficient 
however  to  warrant  the  expectation  that  the  '  call'  will  in  due  time 
be  completed.  I  trust  that  you  will  be  able  to  supply  the  pulpit 
next  Sunday  week.  Your  continued  occupation  of  it  will  materially 
assist  a  satisfactory  completion  of  the  '  call.'  " 

I  preached  as  requested,  and  on  leaving  for  home  had  formed  an 
expectation  of  being  formally  invited,  as  the  majority  was  unmis- 
takably in  favour  of  it. 

But  as  far  as  I  remember,  there  was  one,  an  occasional  attendant, 
living  I  think  some  distance  out,  but  retaining  some  connection  with 
the  place,  who  looked  at  me  askance,  and  on  whom  I  looked  with 
suspicion.  I  fancy  he  was  a  sort  of  sleeping  partner  in  the  deacon- 
ship,  and  also  that  he  had  some  connection  with  law.  I  imagined 
afterwards,  whether  rightly  or  not  I  do  not  know,  that  he  played  an 
electioneering  move,  which  by  a  fortunate  accident  might  enable  a 
few  to  over-ride  the  desires  of  the  many.  As  for  instance,  the  real 
completion  of  the  "  call  "  was  by  uritten  votes  of  the  members  ;  and 
I  believe  that  sufficient  of  these  had  already  been  signed  before  I 
left ;  but  according  to  the  then  traditional  notion  of  the  "  deed,"  it 
was  requisite  that  at  the  announced  meeting,  two-thirds  of  those  pre- 
sent should  agree  to  collect  and  accept  the  written  votes :  in  fact, 
to  decide  whether  the  church  should  go  to  the  poll  or  not ;  so  that 
if,  say  by  any  accident  or  from  any  misapprehension  as  to  the  non- 
necessity of  their  presence,  many  should  not  be  there,  a  handful 
could  set  the  proceedings  aside. 


149 

However,  I  scarcely  anticipated  such  a  result ;  but  requested  a 
friend  to  telegraph  that  night,  Monday,  August  18th,  the  result  of 
the  meeting,  "  yes  "  or  "no  !  " 

I  had  not  told  my  wife  of  this,  for  I  did  not  want  to  spoil  he» 
night's  rest,  as  bad  news  would  be  time  enough  for  her  in  the  morn- 
ing, in  case  the  report  was  unfavourable.  I  accordingly  directed  it 
to  be  sent  to  a  friend  in  Birmingham,  at  whose  house  I  expected  to 
receive  it  before  very  late.  However,  I  had  to  go  to  bed  without  it ; 
and  concluded  that  the  meeting  had  been  adjourned. 

I  think  it  was  between  one  and  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  wThen 
we  were  woke  up  by  a  ringing  and  rapping  of  an  energetic  sort.  I 
knew  what  it  meant,  that  it  was  The  Telegram,  but  I  did  not  know 
what  was  inside  it  till  I  opened  the  door.  There  was  "  No  !  "  in  it. 
I  went  back  not  giving  the  news,  but  put  the  message  in  my  pocket, 
and  tried  to  go  to  sleep,  without  having  communicated  the  news  or 
explaining  the  matter.  But  as  soon  as  I  fell  off,  another  quietly 
rose  and  rummaged  my  pockets,  and  read  by  the  gas  the  short 
announcement.     It  was  not  so  pleasant  as  it  was  plain. 

The  explanation  was,  that  a  violent  storm  of  rain  came  on  that 
night  in  London,  and  many  dare  not  go  out ;  while  some  felt  that 
it  was  not  necessary,  since  they  had  already  signed  their  voting 
papers,  and  the  matter  was  as  good  as  settled.  But  enemies  are 
generally  more  zealous  than  friends,  and  would  go  through  fire 
and  water,  either  to  thwart  you  personally,  or  somebody  else, 
whose  plans  in  relation  to  you  they  wished  to  circumvent.  I  believe 
there  were  some  thirty  present  out  of  a  church  of  three  hundred,  and 
eleven  of  these  would  constitute  the  successful  minority.  I  was  told 
that  the  friends  of  the  "  call"  proposed  an  adjournment,  but  it  was 
claimed  that  even  for  this,  two-thirds  were  required  as  a  majority. 
The  meeting  was  kept  up  very  late,  but  the  few  held  out :  and  it  was 
considered  that  they  had  by  a  legal  technicality  set  aside  all  that 
the  church  had  done  ;  so  that  if  next  day,  nearly  the  whole  church 
should  have  voted  by  papers,  most  of  which  were  ready  and  many 
given  in,  the  accidental  advantage  of  the  ten  or  eleven  would  frustrate 
the  general  wish. 

It  was  found  out  afterwards  that  the  deed,  absurd  as  it  was,  did 
not  mean  this  :  but  as  one  wrote  to  me  ; — "  it  is  true  we  were  done 
by  the  deed,  but  then  the  deed  is  done,"  and  it  was  considered 
that  to  question  it,  or  even  to  begin  the  formalities  de  novo,  would 
produce  confusion. 

I  was  greatly  consoled  on  this  occasion  by  the  very  sympathetic 
and  generous  letter  of  the  corresponding  deacor,  who  with  his 
colleagues  was  almost  equally  disappointed. 


150 

The  following  is  the  letter,  which  is  both  a  testimonial  and  an 
expression  of  kindness,  which  I  have  always  highly  prized: — 

"  Whitehall,  19th  Aug.,  1856. 

"  My  dear  Sir, — It  is  with  regret  that  reaches  to  the  very  core  of 
my  heart  that  I  inform  you  of  the  result  of  the  church  meeting  at 
Claremont  chapel  last  evening,  which  was  that  you  were  not  elected 
to  the  pastorate. 

"  The  array  of  cordial  and  discriminating  testimonials  from 
ministers  of  influence,  together  with  a  most  emphatic  testimonial 
from  your  late  charge  at  Birmingham — the  character  of  your 
preaching,  which  was  striking,  interesting,  and  instructive  beyond 
anything  that  we  have  been  accustomed  to — the  largeness  of  the 
congregation  which  you  attracted,  coupled  with  the  kindliness  of 
your  nature,  and  friendly,  frank  and  unaffected  manner, — these,  I 
say,  led  me  not  only  to  desire  earnestly  that  you  might  be  elected 
but  also  to  cherish  the  hope  that  you  would  be  elected.  Other 
views,  however,  triumphed  ;  and  the  privilege  of  having  you  for  a 
pastor  is  reserved  for  some  happier  fellowship,  while  our  faith  and 
patience  must  endure  a  still  further  trial.  Let  me,  dear  Sir, 
bespeak  your  sympathy  and  prayers. 

"  Trusting  that  the  light  of  heaven  may  shine  on  jour  future, 
and  that  you  may  be  a  blessing  to  thousands, 
"  I  remain, 
"  With  Christian  affection, 

"  Most  truly  }<ours, 

"  HUGH  OWEN. 

"  The  Kev.  Beewin  Grant,  B.A." 


After  this  disappointment  came  our  first  great  sorrow,  which 
at  times  even  yet  flings  its  shadow  over  our  minds,  though  it  has 
been  softened  by  time,  and  the  opportunity  of  cherishing  those  con- 
siderations which  the  first  flood  of  grief  does  not  permit  us  to  dwell 
upon. 

There  was  one  who  accompanied  me  to  London,  and  whose  voice 
always  sounds  in  my  ear  as  I  pass  through  some  of  those  short 
tunnels  near  Town — an  imitation  of  the  whistle  of  the  engine,  by  a 
mocking  merry  little  companion,  who  somewhat  startled  a  passenger, 
and  turned  delighted  to  me,  saying — "  were  #you  frightened  ?"  She 
was  then  about  five  years  old, — a  woman  and  a  child.  I  remember 
our  visit  to  Daventry  on  our  return  home  to  Birmingham,  when  I 
preached  the  anniversary  sermons  for  Mr.  Davies,  who  had  carried  on 


151 

life-long  and  honourable  ministry  in  that  town.  There  was  a  tea- 
meeting  on  the  Tuesday,  to  which  we  stayed,  and  the  little  one  was 
the  cynosure  of  all  eyes,  as  at  home  she  was  the  peerless  unenvied 
pet  and  queen.  The  following  morning  Mr.  J.  C.  Stokes,  Jun.,  one 
of  my  flock,  drove  us  from  Daventry  to  Birmingham.  It  was  a  glorious 
day ;  and  I  remember  a  long  avenue  of  trees  on  the  road,  worthy  of 
the  noblest  park,  while  the  greensward  along-side  tempted  us  to  rest 
there,  unharness  the  horse,  and  sit  down  to  bivouac. 

I  see  the  fairy  dancing  on  the  green, — a  picture  that  will  not  fade. 
Many  a  time  when  I  have  returned  from  my  journeys,  she  with  the 
rest  was  standing  on  the  platform  to  run  and  give  me  a  welcome ; 
and  all  the  way  riding  home,  would  sing  to  extempore  music  and 
poetry,  the  refrain  of  which  was, — "  Clap  hands,  for  Pa  has  come 
home." 

And  she  has  gone  home  now,  though  we  would  gladly  have  detained 
her.  I  remember  the  farewell  look,  as  she  rested  panting  on  my 
arm,  while  another  equally  concerned  was  saying — "I  will  try  and 
dress  her."  "  You  will  never  dress  her  again,"  said  I.  "  I  shall," 
was  the  answer,  but  the  departing  one  looked  round  to  find  her  also ; 
and  after  one  last  look  of  sweet  farewell,  passed  to  heaven.  The 
loneliness  of  that  sad  hour,  when  with  all  our  loved  ones  we  seemed 
+o  have  no  one  left,  can  be  understood  only  by  those  who  have 
experienced  the  same.  An  accident,  falling  from  the  arm  of  a  sofa, 
and  injuring  the  spine  in  the  fall  on  to  the  pointed  ridge  of  a  fender, 
laid  the  foundation  of  weakness,  through  which  we  nursed  her 
tenderly  ;  but  not  more  tenderly  than  she  is  now  cherished  in  our 
future  home. 

Oh.  not  in  cruelty,  not  in  wrath, 

The  reaper  came  that  day  : 
'Twas  an  angel  visited  the  green  earth, 

And  took  the  flowers  away. 


The  Sensitive  Plant  was  the  earliest 

Up-gathered  into  the  bosom  of  rest ; 
A  sweet  child  weary  of  its  delight, 
The  feeblest  anci  and  yet  the  favourite, 
Cradled  within  the  embrace  of  night. 


No  !   "  There  is  no  night  there"  :- 


"Where  the  bright  Seraphim,  in  bivrning  row, 
Their  loud  uplifted  angel-trumpets  blow, 
And  the  Cherubic  host,  in  thousand  choirs, 
Touch  their  immortal  harps  of  golden  wires. 


152 

FOR     I   SAY     UNTO    YCU.     THAT      IN      HEAVEN     THEIR     ANGELS     DO     ALWAYS 
BEHOLD    THE     FACE     OF     MY     FATHER     WHICH     IS     IN     HEAVEN." 


"It  is  His  Angel,"  said  the  fearful  and  unbelieving  disciples, 
when  the  damsel  Rhoda  knew  his  voice,  and  could  not  open  the 
door  to  Peter  for  sudden  joy  and  desire  to  tell  them ;  as,  having 
heard  his  voice,  her  heart  leaped.  "  And  when  she  knew  Peter's 
voice  she  opened  not  the  door  for  gladness,  but  ran  in  and  told 
them  how  Peter  stood  before  the  gate."  At  first  they  were  sceptical, 
for  they  had  not  believed  in  the  efficacy  of  their  own  prayers  for 
his  deliverance,  and  many  people  would  be  astonished  if  God 
answered  them.  "It  is  his  angel;"  it  is  Peter  come  back  again, 
but  not  in  bodily  substance  so  as  to  be  able  to  say,  "  handle  me, — 
'  a  spirit'  hath  not  flesh  and  bones,  as  ye  see  me  have."  These  are 
the  "  angels," — the  departed  spirits  of  children  appearing,  not  again 
to  us,  but  before  the  face  of  His  Father,  Whose  "  house"  has 
"many  mansions,"  over  which  the  Son  presides,  and  from  which 
He  says  : — "  Suffer  little  children  to  come  unto  Me." 

A  neat  Parian  marble  bust,  artistically  executed,  with  a  modest 
wreath  of  flowers  and  leaves,  by  M.  Beattie,  of  Birmingham,  stands 
oh  a  bracket  in  my  study  as  I  write  this — the  hardest  chapter  of 
my  life — which  has,  and  will,  cost  some  tears.  Nor  is  this  forbidden, 
since  "  jesus  wept"  Who  will  hereafter  wipe  all  tears  from  off 
all  faces. 

It  was  during  the  first  sharpness  of  this  bereavement,  in  January, 
1857,  that  I  fulfilled  an  engagement  to  preach  in  Leecroft 
Chapel,  Sheffield  :  a  "cause"  sunk  very  low,  and  not  having  in 
itself  the  elements  of*  revival  without  foreign  aid.  I  remember  my 
first  service  there — too  soon  after  the  event  referred  to — and  how  I 
had  to  leave  the  pulpit  before  the  sermon,  from  uncontrollable 
g  icf ;  and  with  what  difficulty  it  was  that  I  faced  the  congregation, 
after  a  few  verses  of  a  hymn  had  been  sung. 

It  is  enough  here  to  say  that  I  was  received  with  very  great 
kindness  and  sympathy  by  the  few  friends  there  and  by  others,  and 
was  invited  to  settle  amongst  them.  I  liked  Sheffield  as  a  busy, 
active  town.  There  was  in  it  my  old  friend  the  Rev.  David 
Loxton  ;  the  people  were  very  hearty ;  and  I  was  desirous  of  rest. 
There  was  one  difficulty  in  the  way,  namely,  as  to  raising  "  means," 
and  friends  outside  contributed  for  a  time  towards  an  acknowledg- 


153 

ment  of  the  minister's  services.  Amongst  those  who,  at  a  meeting 
in  connection  with  this  settlement,  volunteered  aid,  I  remember 
Mr.  Robert  Leader,  of  the  Sheffield  Independent,  volunteered  to 
give  five  pounds  for  two  years  to  secure  the  settlement  of  ' ;  an  able 
man  in  Sheffield." 

It  is  with  satisfaction  that  I  record  the  kindness  received  at  this 
time,  and  especially  that  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Joshua  Wortley,  of 
Philadelphia  House,  Sheffield,  who  entertained  our  whole  family  for 
a  little  time  till  the  house  was  prepared  in  which  we  were  to 
sojourn  for  a  while,  We  have  the  happiness  of  retaining  their 
friendship  after  eleven  years'  acquaintance,  though  not  long  con- 
nected with  the  same  "  cause." 

One  evening,  during  our  stay  with  our  hospitable  entertainers, 
Mrs.  Wobtley  was  taking  two  of  our  children  through  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  and  when  they  came  to  that  petition,  "  Give  us  this  day 
our  daily  bread,"  one  of  them  looked  up  and  put  in  this  parenthesis 
— with  a  most  natural  emphasis — "  and  'pikelets"  They  had  had 
some  for  tea. 


Chapter  XV. 

"THE  RESCUE  OF  FAITH."      "NEW  COLLEGE" 

THEOLOGY.       THE    GODWIN     CONTROVERSY.      1862. 

The  most  important  public  step  in  my  life,  and  one  involving 
many  sacrifices  and  losses  in  defence  of  the  gospel,  was  the  exposi- 
tion and  exposure  of  the  subtlest  and  most  dangerous  form  of  error, 
which  takes  the  soul  out  of  Christianity  and  leaves  to  it  only  an 
empty  name. 

The  history  of  this  controversy  is  the  more  useful  and  necessary 
on  account  of  the  fact  that  the  errors  described  are  still 
endorsed,  and  even  specially  approved  of,  by  the  quiet  restoration 
of  the  professor  who  had  been  deposed  from  the  chair  of  Greek 
New  Testament  Criticism  on  account  of  them  ;  or  at  least  in  order 
to  prevent  the  continued  diminution  of  the  college  income,  occa- 
sioned by  the  circulation  of  "the  Rescue  of  Faith"  among  the 
subscribers. 

New  College,  St.  John's  Wood,  London,  is  an  amalgamation  of 
three  previously  existing  Congregational  colleges — Highbury, 
Homerton,  and  Coward.     This  amalgamation  took  place  in  1850. 


154 

The  Rev.  J.  H.  Godwin,  formerly  one  of  the  professors  at  High- 
bury college,  was  translated  to  this  new  institution,  and  in  the 
Congregational  Year  Book,  1880,  (p.  213)  his  "  professorship"  is 
described  as  "  Philos.  and  Greek  Exeg."  ;  that  is,  philosophy  and 
the  exegesis,  or  criticism,  and  exposition  of  the  Greek  New  Testa- 
ment,— the  most  important  chair  in  a  theological  college,  and  most 
affecting  the  doctrinal  opinions  of  the  students  for  the  ministry. 

Whatever  suspicions  may  attach  to  oral  teaching  it  is  difficult  to 
come  to  a  certain  decision ;  but  published  statements  lie  fixed  and 
passive  for  dissection,  and  this  opportunity  for  examining  his  real 
sentiments  was  afforded  by  Professor  Godwin,  in  his  systematic  and 
formal  dissertation  given  as  the  "  Congregational  Lecture"  in  1858, 
and  after  some  delay  published  under  Lie  title  of  "  Christian 
Faiths 

This  "  Congregational  Lecture"  maybe  compared  denominationally 
with  the  Bampton  and  other  lectures  in  connexion  with  our  national 
universities.  It  is  regulated  by  an  institution  called  "the  Congrega- 
tional Library." 

The  following  description  is  taken  from  the  Congregational  Year 
Book,  1860,  pp.  288-7. 

THE  CONGREGATIONAL  LIBRARY,  BLOMFIELD  STREET, 
EINSBURY. 

This  valuable  institution  was  established  in  1830.  The  lease  of  the  premises 
wals  purchased  in  1H31  by  an  association  of  ministers  and  gentlemen,  at  the  cost 
of  £2,100,  with  a  view  to  secure  a  convenient  locality  for  the  various  literary, 
religious,  and  benevolent  objects  of  the  Congregational  body. 

The  handsome  library,  which  is  mainly  occupied  with  books,  the  munificent 
gift  of  Joshua  Wilson,  Esq.,  is  lofty,  and  adorned  with  several  fine  portraits.  In 
this  room  the  meetings  of  the  Congregational  Board  and  of  the  General  Body  are 
held.  The  institution  is  in  the  hands  of  trustees,  and  its  ordinary  business  is 
transacted  by  a  committee. 

THE  CONGREGATIONAL  LECTURE 
Was  established  by  the  constituents  of  the  library,  with  a  view  to  promote  eccle- 
siastical, theological,  and  biblical  literature,  in  that  religious  connexion  to 
which  they  belong.  It  consists  of  an  occasional  course  of  lectures,  that  partake 
rather  of  the  character  of  academical  prelections  than  of  popular  addresses.  The 
lecturers  are  selected  from  such  Congregational  ministers  of  Great  Britain  as  are 
distinguished  on  account  of  their  literary  and  ministerial  reputation.  Seventeen 
series  have  been  already  delivered,  the  publication  of  which  has  greatly  increased 
the  literary  reputation  of  the  Denomination.  They  were  delivered  and  have  since 
appeared  in  the  following  order  ; — 

"1833.  Christian  Ethics;  or  Moral  Philosophy  on  the  Principles  of  Divine 
Revelation.     By  the  late  Rev.  Ralph  Wardlaw,  D.D." 

Here  follows  the  successive  series,  down  to  : — 

"  1855.  Ages  of  Christendom  be/ore  the  Reformation.  By  the  Rev.  John 
Stoughton." 


155 

"  The  Kev.  John  H.  Godwin,  Professor  of  Philosophy  and  of  Greek  Exegesis, 
delivered  a  course  of  Lectures  on  Christian  Faith  in  1858.  The  volume  is  not 
yet  published." 

It  should  be  observed  that  at  this  stage  Professor  Godwin's  book 
is  scarcely  ranked  with  the  others  :  that  while  "  delivered"  in  1858, 
it  is  not  published  at  the  beginning  of  18G0.  My  own  impression 
is  that  the  managers  of  "  the  Library"  had  been  alarmed  at  the 
doctrines  propounded,  and  were  unwilling  to  have  this  "  series" 
attached  to  their  former  issues.  At  the  end  of  Mr.  Godwin's  pre- 
face to  "  Christian  Faith"  he  says  : — "  Circumstances  prevented 
the  appearance  of  this  series  of  lectures  at  the  proper  time,  and 
their  [its]  publication  was  therefore  postponed  till  after  the  issue  of 
the  series  which  followed."  Whether  in  the  meantime  "  the  con- 
stituents of  the  Library"  had  been  converted  to  the  Professor's 
opinions,  I  cannot  say  ;  but  I  find  that  whereas  "  Christian  Faith*' 
is  not  quite  recognised  in  the  list  quoted  from  the  Year  Book  of 
1860  it  thus  appears  in  that  of  1865  : — 

"  1855.     Ages  of  Christendom,  &c. 

"  1858.     Christian  Faith,  by  the  Rev.  John  H.  Godwin. 

■'  1860.  The  Divine  Covenants,  their  Nature  and  Design,  by  the 
Piev.  John  Kelly." 

It  was  no  doubt  providential  that  the  Professor's  "  Christian 
Faith"  was  not  permitted  to  appear  till  "  The  Divine  Covenants" 
had  strengthened  us  to  bear  it.  The  "  publication"  of  the  former 
"  was  therefore  postponed"  till  after  the  series  which  followed." 

But  while  in  1865  "  Christian  Faith"  is  put  down  with  the 
"Covenants,"  it  is  significant  to  read  in  the  Year  Book  of  1867 
[page  394]  the  following  epitaph  : — 

THE  CONGREGATIONAL  LIBRARY  AND  THE  CONGREGATIONAL 

LECTURE 

Are  discontinued  for  the  present.  It  is  intended,  when  the  Memorial  Ha1!  is 
completed,  that  both  shall  be  removed  thither.  Information  respecting  either 
may  be  had  on  application  to  Rev.  Thomas  James,  Secretary,  18,  South-btreet, 
Finsbury,  E.G. 

The  volume  whose  origin  and  early  fortunes  are  thus  described  was 
reviewed  by  me  in  a  series  of  articles  in  the  British  Standard,  under 
the  editorship  of  the  late  Ptev.  J.  Campbell,  D.D.,  at  whose  decease 
that  paper  came  to  an  end,  and  there  remains  now  no  Congrega- 
tional Ovgan  in  which  departures  from  the  truth  amongst  us  can  be 
fairly  criticised.  We  may  write  at  Colenso  and  the  Ritualists,  but 
worse  errors  amongst  Congregationalists  are  screened  from  investi- 
gation— if  indeed  there  are   many  who  have  the  courage  to  attack 


156 

"  spiritual  wickedness  in  high  places," — for  it  is  not  given  to  every 
one  to  peril  his  prospects  for  the  sake  of  his  principles. 

It  was  in  1862  that  the  criticisms  on  Professor  Godwin's  "  Chris- 
tian Faith"  appeared  in  the  columns  of  the  British  Standard:  and 
during  a  temporary  visit  with  my  family  to  Hastings  in  October  of 
that  year  I  revised  the  articles  for  republication,  under  the  title  of 
"  The  Rescue  of  Faith,  or  a  Vindication  of  the  Cross  of  Christ, 
being  an  Analysis  and  Refutation  of  the  Rationalism  of  the  Age,  as 
embodied  in  the  Congregational  Lecture  on  Christian  Faith,  by  the 
Rev.  J.  H.  Godwin,  Professor  in  New  College,  St.  John's  Wood, 
London,  Revised  and  corrected  from  the  British  Standard,  July  to 
September,  1862,  by  the  Rev.  Brewin  Grant,  B.A."  This  is  now 
out  of  print. 

That  the  public  may  be  acquainted  with  the  doctrines  then  and 
still  taught  in  the  chief  Congregational  and  Independent  College, the 
following  extracts  from  the  "  Rescue  of  Faith"  are  selected  for 
perusal  ;  the  words  in  inverted  commas  are  quotations  from  Pro- 
fessor Godwin's  "  Christian  Faith,"  and  the  figures  refer  to  the  page 
whence  the  passages  were  copied ;  phrases  in  brackets  [  ]  are  to  ex- 
plain the  connection  in  which  the  sentences  are  used,  or  to  adduce 
equivalent  expressions,  by  which  the  language  is  to  be  interpreted. 

The  following  circumstances  as  described  at  the  commencement 
of  "  The  Rescue  of  Faith  "  explain  my  connection  with  this  con- 
troversy, and  were  mentioned  at  the  time  for  the  sake  of  those  who 
would  wilfully  attribute  another  origin  to  these  criticisms,  as  their 
revenge  for  their  conscious  incapacity  to  answer  them. 

The  writer  happened  to  receive  an  intimation  from  a  friend  in 
London,  that  if  he  should  be  in  town  to  see  the  Exhibition,  he 
could  preach  on  a  given  Sabbath  in  a  chapel  the  minister  of  which 
was  then  absent  from  illness.  Accepting  this  as  a  favourable  oppor- 
tunity, the  writer  did  accordingly  visit  the  metropolis,  and  one 
evening  on  his  return  to  his  host's,  called  on  Dr.  Campbell,  who 
accidently  referred  in  conversation  to  Professor  Godwin's  lectures, 
asking  the  writer  if  he  had  seen  them,  which  he  had  not,  and 
whether  he  would  look  them  over  and  write  a  notice  for  the  British 
Standard. 

At  that  time  the  reviewer  had  no  suspicion  that  there  were  any 
grave  errors  in  the  Congregational  lecture  on  Christian  faith.  He 
felt  little  interest  in  the  subject,  and  did  not  suppose  it  to  be  of  any 
pressing  moment. 

Accordingly,  the  serious  reading  of  the  book  was  postponed  by 
other  engagements,  until  Dr.   Campbell  wrote,  recalling  attention 


157 

to  the  matter,  and  saying  that  if  the  writer  were  too  much  occupied 
he  must  himself  take  it  in  hand.  On  that  day  the  review  of  the 
preface  was  written  and  sent  off;  but  even  then  the  fall  character 
of  the  book  had  not  deeply  impressed  the  reviewer  :  though  by  a 
certain  instinct  the  language  of  the  preface  was  interpreted  as 
suspicious ;  and  that  one  article  seemed  to  the  writer  sufficient  as  a 
warning.  But  the  editorial  addition, — "  So  much  by  way  of  prelude ; 
we  shall  enter  into  the  heart  of  the  subject  in  our  next," — woke  up 
the  reviewer  to  the  toilsomeness  and  comparative  magnitude  of  his 
task.  The  character  of  the  volume  unfolded  lecture  by  lecture  ; 
the  reviewer  was  both  amazed  and  pained  at  every  discovery  of 
some  new  error — rampant  or  couchant,  and  the  work  of  comparison 
— reading  backwards  and  forwards  to  hunt  one  phrase  to  place 
along-side  some  other — became  an  absorbing  pursuit. 

Me.  Godwin's  style  of  language,  like  that  of  the  school  to  which 
he  belongs,  is  so  evasive,  enabling  him  to  say  what  he  denies,  only 
in  a  different  sense,  that  it  is  necessary  to  quote  largely  in  order 
not  only  to  show  what  he  says  but  to  prove  what  he  means  ;  and 
this  proof  is  afforded  by  some  equivalent  expressions,  in  which  the 
writer  slides  gradually  down  the  scale  of  meaning  from  the  appear- 
ance of  the  strictest  orthodoxy  to  the  reality  of  the  lowest  heterodoxy. 


The  Nature  of  Faith.  According  to  Mr.  Godwin  s  Theory  it  is  not 
an  intelligent  Belief  in  the  definite  Truths  of  Religion,  but  a 
blind  Trust  that  has  no  Relation  to  the  Atonement. 

The  preface  to  these  lectures  directs  us  to  ''consider"  them  as 
"  referring  to  this  common  principle  " — "  the  same  faith  in  Christ  " 
which  exists  among  all  sects  and  parties — "Episcopalians,  Quakers, 
Calvinists,  Arminians,  Catholics,  and  Protestants  " — who  all  have 
"  one  hope  "  and  "  one  faith,"  notwithstanding  "  many  differences 
of  belief  respecting  Christian  doctrine." 

"  The  inquiry  is,  then,  evidently  of  no  little  importance,  whether 
Christian  faith  be  belief  or  trust"  (p.  12).  Yet  he  says  that  "to 
believe  in  a  person  is  to  trust  to  him"  (p.  17)  ;  and,  therefore,  there 
can  be  no  difference  between  belief  and  trust  on  a  moral  question. 
This  fatal  admission  is  in  the  midst  of  some  eighteen  pages,  13-28, 
all  printed  to  show  that  Christian  faith  means  "  more  than  any  kind 
of  belief!"  (p.  13).  > 

That  Christian  faith  does  not  imply  belief  in  the  supposed  funda- 
mental doctrines  of  the  gospel  is  thus  intimated  : — 


158 

(P.  15.)  "  The  truths  of  which  the  simple  belief  is  by  some  sup- 
posed to  be  Christian  faith  were  not  known  by  those  who  first  had 
this  faith."  He  means  that  the  personal  disciples  of  Jesus  had 
"  Christian  faith"  without  a  belief  in  what  are  ''supposed  by  some" 
to  constitute  Christian  doctrines. 

"  The  truths  the  belief  of  which  is  thought  to  he  sufficient  for  salvation  refer 
to  His  death,  and  to  its  character  as  a  sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  men.  But  it 
appears  from  the  narrative  of  the  New  Testament  that  His  death  was  not  ex- 
pected by  His  disciples,  not  even  by  the  apostles.  They  had  faith  in  Him,  and 
through  this  faith  became  His  followers.  They  were  acknowledged  to  be  His 
friends  and  kindred,  were  assured  of  forgiveness  and  acceptance,  and  yet  they 
did  not  believe  that  it  was  needful  that  Christ  should  suffer.  They  trusted  to 
Him  ;  but  not  till  after  His  death  and  resurrection  did  they  learn  those  truths 
the  belief  of  which  has  been  thought  to  cons titute  Christian  faith.  "We  have 
no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  faith  required  of  the  disciples  of  Christ  at  the 
beginning  differed  in  its  nature  from  what  was  afterwards  enjoined.  The 
ignorance  which  was  compatible  with  faith  at  one  time  may  be  incompatible  with 
it  at  another  time.  But  it  seems  to  be  impossible  that  this  faith  should  be  the 
belief  of  truths  which  were  for  some  time  unknown  to  all  by  whom  it  [this 
Christian  faith]  was  possessed." 

This  passage  is  the  key  to  the  position :  it  explains  why  so  much 
is  made  of  trust,  and  so  little  of  belief.  What  does  it  matter  about 
"  believing  the  doctrines  which  are  supposed  by  some  to  constitute 
Christian  faith,"  when  the  true  faith  was  possessed  by  some  who 
knew  nothing  of  the  doctrines,  and  so  may  be  possessed  by  those 
who  reject  those  doctrines,  since  this  faith  is  the  same  now  as  at 
the  beginning ! 

II. 

The  Object  of  Faith  ;  or,  what  ice  are  to  believe  in  ;  not  the  Sacrifice, 
nor  any  Work  or  Promise  of  Jesus,  but  in  Christ  Himself,  and 
not  any  Propositions  about  Him ! 

"  We  proceed  to  the  inquiry  respecting  the  object  of  Christian 
faith.  What  is  this  ?  Is  it  a  proposition  or  a  system  of  propo- 
sitions ?  Is  it  a  fact,  or  a  series  of  facts  ?  Or  is  it  some  Person  ? 
What  or  whom  are  we  required  to  trust  ?"     (p.  39.) 

The  absurdity  of  attempting  to  "  distinguish"  between  believing 
in  a  "person"  and  believing  in  "propositions"  respecting  him  is 
acknowledged  in  the  next  sentence,  page  89  : — "  If  we  believe  a 
person  we  shall  also  (!)  believe  some  propositions  respecting  him, 
and  the  facts  [which]  they  [the  said  propositions]  declare,  and  we 
shall  believe  the  truth  of  what  we  know  to  be  stated  by  him.  But  we 
may  believe  &  person,  and  not  believe  many  truths  asserted  by  him  or 
by  others  concerning  him,  being  ignorant  of  those  truths." 


159 

The  schema  is  to  show  that  we  may  trust  in  Chbist  as  the  Person 
Who  was  born  at  Bethlehem  and  died  on  Calvary,  while  "  ignorant 
of  the  important  truths  and  facts"  that  His  birth  was  a  Divine 
iu carnation  and  His  death  the  divinely-appointed  sacrifice  for  sins. 
No  doubt  we  may,  and  this  will  be  so  far  a  belief  in  His  "  person," 
but  no  belief  in  His  mission,  and  have  no  relation  to  Christian 
faith  nor  to  salvation. 

"Trusting  to  a  person  commonly  includes  more  than  trusting  to 
any  propositions  or  facts."  Now,  a  "  person"  is  nothing  else  but  a 
"fact,"  and  our  affections  towards  that  person  result  from  the 
"  propositions"  which  we  accept  concerning  him.  We  are  told 
that  "Trusting  to  Christ  is  (liferent  from  trusting  to  the  truth 
of  any  doctrine,  or  the  sufficiency  of  any  work.  Many  of  the 
disciples  [who  do  duty  a  great  many  times  over]  trusted  to  Hem 
fully,  when  His  doctrine  was  but  partially  understood,  and  His 
work  was  still  unfinished,  and  to  a  great  extent  unknown."  (41.) 

This  dreary  lecture  concludes  in  the  same  manner  :  — 

"  If  Jesus  Chbist  be  the  object  of  Christian  faith,  those  representations  mnst 
be  erroneous  which  assign  this  place  to  any  particular  facts  or  propositions 
Not  the  birth  of  Christ,  nor  His  death,  nor  His  resurrection,  can  be  the 
object  of  this  faith." 

"  The  sufficiency  of  His  sacrifice  for  the  pardon  of  sin  cannot  be  alone 
the  object  of  this  faith." 

"  According  to  the  sacred  (!)  Scriptures,  no  fact  or  series  of  facts,  no  proposi- 
tion or  system  of  propositions,  but  Jesus  Cheist  Himself,  the  Bon  of  God,  is 
the  object  of  faith,  in  "Whom  {not  in  His  works  and  revealed  character  in  the 
doctrines  of  the  Gospel,  but  in  something  '  different  'J  men  will  find  all  that  is 
to  be  believed,  desired,  and  chosen,  that  they  may  receive  through  Hhi  eternal 
life." 

He  further  tells  us  that : — 

M  In  more  than  thirty  passages  of  the  Gospel  of  St.  John  we  find  with  reference 
to  Chbist  the  expressions  trusting  to  Me,   or  trusting  to  Him,  or  trusting  to 

x.  The  same  language  is  employed  by  the  other  evangelists,  and  by 
the  apostles  Peter  and  Paul.  The  few  passages  which  mention  faith  in 
connection  with  the  gospel,  or  with  the  death  and  resurrection  of  Christ, 
should  be  understood  in  accordance  with  the  many  passages  which  speak  of  the 
faith  that  saves  as  having  for  its  object  the  person  of  Christ."     (4<£.) 

An  examination  of  the  gospels  shows  that  neither  John  nor  the 
other  evangelists  present  the  person  of  Chbist  as  the  object  cf 
faith  apart  from  His  work, — the  benefits  which  He  bestows,  and  the 
sufferings  which  He  was  to  endure :  and  that  these  are  either 
expressly  mentioned  or  implied  in  every  instance. 

Mr.  Godwin  goes  further  than  this  boldness  of  making  the 
instances  "  few  "  which  refer  to  the  work  of  Christ,  and,  "  many  " 


160 

which  refer  to  His  person;  he  even  declares  that  those  "few 
passages,"  which  in  reality  are  most  numerous,  are  "erroneous!"  for 
he  tells  us  (p.  73)  that — ''if  Jesus  Christ  be  the  object  of  Chris- 
tian faith,  THOSE  REPRESENTATIONS  MUST  BE  ERRONEOUS  which  assign 

this  place  to  any  particular  facts  or  propositions."  And  that  we 
may  know  distinctly  what  facts  or  propositions  he  denies  to  be  the 
object  of  our  faith,  the  following  are  enumerated  : — 

"  Not  the  birth  of  Christ,  not  His  death,  nor  His  resurrec- 
tion, can  be  the  object  of  this  faith".  "  The  sufficiency  of  His 
sacrifice  for  the  pardon  of  sin  cannot  be  alone  [he  dares  not  say, 
though  he  means,  '  cannot  be  at  all ']  the  object  of  this  faith." 

"According  to  the  sacred  Scriptures,  no  pact  or  series  of  facts, 
no  proposition  or  system  of  propositions,  but  Jesus  Chhist  Him- 
self the  Son  of  God,  is  the  object  of  faith  "  (p.  73).  In  page  41, 
Mr.  Godwin  says  : — 

"  It  is  not  said  that  we  are  saved  by  trusting  to  the  doctrine 
which  Christ  taught,  or  by  trusting  to  what  He  has  done  or 
will  do,  but  by  trusting  to  Himself."  "  Trusting  to  Christ  is 
different  to  trusting  to  the  truth  of  any  doctrine  or  the  sufficiency 
of  any  work." 

HI. 

The  Forgiveness  of  Sin  no  Forgiveness  at  all,  but  the  Hecognition  of 
the  former  Sinner's  new  Character: — for  a  Person  that  repents 
"cannot  truly  be  judged  to  be  wrong,  according  to  the  Wrong  of 
past  Actions.'" 

Mr.  Godwin  accepts  Mr.  Lynch's  distinction  between  "conduct," 
or  "action,"  and  "character."  "Conduct"  may  be  bad;  "actions" 
may  be  sinful ;  and,  while  the  agent  chose  to  act  so,  he  was  a 
sinner,  but  is  so  no  longer  when  he  repents  !     (  p.  116.) 

""What  men  choose  shows  to  themselves  and  others  what  they  are.  It  shows 
what  they  are  when  [his  own  italics]  they  thus  choose;  but  it  does  not  certainly 
show  what  they  are  at  another  time."1  That  is,  when  they  repent.  "If  there  be 
no  change  of  mind,  the  testimony  given  by  the  former  conduct  remains,  and  (in 
that  case)  men  are  still  what  their  past  actions  indicate.  But  if  their  minds  are 
really  changed  [by  repentance],  former  conduct  ceases  to  be  evidence  of  present 
character.  The  action  which  is  past  is  unalterable,  and  all  true  judgment  re- 
specting it  must  be  ever  the  same.  But  the  character  of  the  agent  is  not  unalter- 
able ;  and  a  person  cannot  be  tkuly  judged  to  be  wrong  according  to  the 
wrong  of  past  actions  if  lie  is  so  changed  that  what  he  once  chose  he  would 
no  longer  choose."  "  If  the  character  is  really  changed,  there  must  be  a  corre- 
sponding change  in  all  true  judgments  respecting  the  person  "  (pp.  116,  117). 


161 

So  that  a  man  who  has  been  a  sinner  all  his  life  has  but  to  change 
in  his  choice,  and  he  is  accepted  of  God  on  grounds  of  ''strictest 
rectitude  " — for  what  he  now  is  ;  the  "  former  conduct  "  not  being 
reckoned  to  him,  since  his  "character"  is  different. 

Forgiveness  on  the  part  of  men  towards  each  other, — 

Does  "  not  "  include  "  forgetting  the  wrong,  nor  falsely  supposing  the  guilty  to  be 
innocent,  but  by  separating  past  conduct  from  present  character,  no  longer 
viewing  the  one  as  the  expression  of  the  other.  It  may  result  entirely  from 
the  change  which  has  taken  place,  not  in  those  who  forgive,  but  in  those  who 
are  forgiven.  In  like  manner,  when  God  forgives,"  "  His  judgment  of  the 
sinner  is  changed,  because  the  sinner  is  changed."'     (123.) 

If  Mr.  Godwin  were  not  afraid  of  speaking  out  his  own  con- 
clusion, or  if  he  clearly  understood  himself,  he  would  have  said  that 
the  person  so  changed  is  no  longer  a  sinner  at  all,  for  he  adds,  "He 
is  not  what  he  once  was.  The  judgment  of  God  respecting  him  is 
not  according  to  his  past  conduct.  He  is  not  now  estimated  by  what 
he  has  done  or  left  undone.  His  offences  are  not  imputed  to  him. 
They  are  set  aside  as  [no  longer]  evidences  against  him,  for  their 
testimony  is  to  what  he  was,  not  to  what  he  is." 

Repentance  thus  clears  off  old  scores  ;  he  is  a  new  creature  ;  and 
bygones  are  bygones  !  Or,  as  Mr.  Godwin  observes,  the  Creator 
"  must  judge  the  penitent  to  be  different  to  the  impenitent." 

As  to  any  atonement  by  the  death  of  Jesus  how  can  this  be  re- 
quired ?  Besides  Mr.  Godwin  tells  us — "  it  is  not  easy  to  see  how 
truth  or  retributive  justice  can  be  satisfied  by  the  sufferings  of  the 
innocent  for  the  guilty."     (145.) 

IV. 

The  Righteousness  of  Faith  is  the  inherent  Goodness  of  believing. 
Not  the  Saviour's  Righteousness,  but  our  own. 

Repentance  having  made  a  new  man  of  the  old  sinner,  faith  now 
comes  in,  and,  embracing  all  the  goodness  of  repentance,  confirms 
and  completes  it.  It  is  a  principle  of  obedience  or  Tightness  that  in 
desire  and  purpose  aims  at  "  all  rightness,"  and  deserves  to  get  on 
"  all  right"  in  "  condition"  or  future  happiness,  as  it  is  "  all  right" 
in  present  disposition  and  prospective  goodness.  This,  and  nothing 
else,  is  Mr.  Godwin's  "  righteousness  of  faith." 

It  saves  Christ  from  saving  sinners,  for  it  makes  every  re- 
deemed man  accepted  for  his  own  "  rightness,"  and  "  blessed  with" 
or  like  Christ  (p.  172),  as  of  Abraham  it  is  said,  "  His  faith  and 
the  blessing  which  he  therefore  received  are  presented  as  an  example 
for  all.     '  With  thee  shall  all  the  families  of  the  earth  be  blessed '  " 


162 

(p.  173).  Go  they  who  have  faith  in  Christ  "  will  bo  at  last  per- 
fectly righteous  and  blessed  with  the  Lord"  (p.  172),  having  the 
same  relation  to  the  Lord  as  to  Abraham  ;  namely,  being  imitators 
of  the  goodness  of  one  or  both  of  them. 

"  In  many  passages  of  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul"  "  it  is  stated  that  they  -who 
Jiave  faith  are  considered  or  counted  to  have  righteousness. 

"  What  is  the  lightness  or  righteousness  which  men  are  judged  to  possess  ?  Is 
it  something  which  they  really  have  [yes,  they  '  really  have  '  pardon,  really  are 
accepted  and  adopted.]  Or  is  it  something  which  is  simply  attributed  to  them, 
which  they  are  only  supposed  to  have  ?"  "  Does  it  belong  to  their  conduct,  their 
character,  or  their  condition  ?  The  answer  to  this  question  will  partly  depend  on 
the  general  use  in  the  Sacred  Scriptures  of  the  terms  righteous  and  righteous- 
ness."    (1G0.) 

Now,  it  is  not  "  the  general  use"  of  the  terms  which  is  in 
question,  but  the  particular  use  of  them  in  reference  to  the  point  in 
hand. 

"  It  appears,  then,  to  be,  according  to  the  usage  of  words  in  the  Sacred  Scrip- 
tures, that  they  who   have  faith  in  Christ  for    salvation,  should  be  said  to 

HAVE  RIGHTEOUSNESS,  BECAUSE  THEY  ARE  REALLY  RIGHT  WITH  GOD.     He  judges 

them  to  be  right,  and  considers  them  to  be  right,  and  declares  them  to  be  right" 
— it  is  "  a  human  rightness."  "  They  must  [as  the  very  act  of  faith]  have 
the  purpose  of  following  Him,  and  therefore  the  purpose  to  seek  and  to  do  all 
that  is  right"  (p.  167).  "  They  who  had  faith  in  Christ  as  the  Son  of  God  .  . 
had  the  faith  which  is  the  principle  of  all  righteousness.  [This  is  'the 
righteousness  of  faith,'  not  through  faith,  but  faith  itself  is  the  rightness.] 
'They  became  upright  or  righteous  pesons.  And  so  it  is  now  with  all  who 
have  this  faith  in  Christ,"  which  "  faith"  means  "  the  full  and  deliberate  deter- 
mination of  the  will  to  observe  and  obey  all  that  is  right"  (168). 

"  If  by  trusting  to  Christ  it  has  become  the  real  choice  of  their  mind  to  seek 
the  righteousness  which  He  required  [not  which  He  bestows,  but  '  up- 
rightness of  character,'  which  we  are  to  obtain],  and  the  righteousness  which  He 
promised  [namely,  that  we  shall  be  all  right  hereafter  in  k  condition'  in  '  conse- 
quence' of  being  upright  in  '  character'  nowj,  tlienihey  are  declared  to  be  righteous 
persons.  And  they  are  righteous.  There  is  a  rightness  belonging  to  them,  to 
their  choice  and purpose ."  .  .  (169.) 

"  They  who  have  the  righteousness  of  God  are  judged  to  be  right, 

and  ARE  IN  THEIR  OWN  CHARACTER  UPRIGHT"  (p.  189.) 

V. 

The  Death  of  Christ  only  a  model  Death,  as  His  life  was  only  a 
model  life. 

According  to  Professor  Godwin,  the  death  of  Christ  was  not 
something  unique,  peculiar,  and  unrivalled,  but  a  standard  exhibi- 
tion of  those  common  principles  of  obedience  and  submission  to  the 
Divine  will  which  are  to  be  repeated  by  all  Christians,  and  by 
which  they,  like  Him,  are  to  be  "  made  perfect  through  sufferings." 


1G3 

There  is  no  place  in  Mr.  Godwin's  system  for  the  death  of  Christ 
as  an  expiating  sacrifice  for  human  sins  ;  for  "  as  in  this  faith 
there  is  the  kepentance  to  which  forgiveness  is  promised,  and  the 
uprightness  of  heart  which  God  requires  and  approves"  (p.  294,) 
there  is  nothing  left  for  the  death  of  Christ  to  accomplish.  Christ, 
indeed,  "sought  to  change  the  relation  of  men  to  God,  but  this 
could  be  effected  only  by  a  change  in  them..  He  came  to  bring  men 
into  submission  to  the  Divine  will,  and  make  them  righteous" 
(p.  284.) 

11  He  went  forward  to  death  because  He  would  "not  cease  to  promote  right, 
and  taught  his  disciples  to  do  the  same,  thus  to  take  up  the  cross  and  follow 
Him"  (p.  58.)  *'■  He  required  of  men  nothing  but  a  willingness  to  receive  this 
[eternal]  life  :  but  as  it  consisted  in  a  resemblance  to  Him,  it  could  only  be 
received  by  learning  of  Him  and  following  Him"  (p.  GO.) 

"  His  example  was  a  pattern  of  the  good  to  be  desired,  and  of  the  course 
to  be  chosen"  (p.  69.) 

"His  life  was  a  perpetual  service  and  perfect  sacrifice"  (p.  62.)  "  But  [His 
life]  did  not  receive  its  highest  manifestation  until  He  suffered  and  died  on  the 
cross."  •'  His  lessons  were  not  completed,  nor  was  he  a  complete  example 
lor  men  until  he  dird"  (p.  63.) 

"  Desire  for  what  is  good  for  ourselves  is  increased,  and  hope  is  strengthened, 
by  what  is  shown  to  us  of  righteousness  and  its  reward  in  the  person  of  Christ " 
(p.  80.)  This  "  reward"  will  be  ours,  when  we  display  this  "  righteousness."  He 
was  the  example  of  both.  "  There  may  be  suffering  [in  our  lot  J  as  in  the  history 
of  our  Lord,  and  its  design  may  be  the  good  of  others,  its  reward,  the  blessed- 
ness of  those  who  are  saved  by  a  service  of  suffering"  (p.  86.) 

"  Our  Lord  frequently  referred  to  the  course  of  earthly  labour  and  suffering 
which  would  precede  the  reward  and  joy  of  heaven. ..  .The  Faith  required  of 
men  was  the  acceptance  of  the  service  and  the  reward''  (p.  155.) 

This  is  to  be  saved  by  our  own  cross,  "  saved  by  a  service  of  suffer- 
ing." Thus  we  are  "  reconciled  to  God  by  the  death  of  His  Son," 
as  we  forgive  Him  and  trust  Him  in  all  our  sufferings,  to  make  it 
up  in  the  end  ;  as  was  done  in  the  case  of  Jesus  ! 

"The  distrust  of  the  Divine  benevolence,  which  is  always  experienced  when  we 
look  only  to  the  visible  and  present,  cannot  remain  when  the  love  of  God  is  seen 
in  the  person  of  ChFvIST  ;  when  chastisement  is  felt  to  produce  the  peaceable 
fruit  of  righteousness ;  and  when  it  is  known  that  afflictions,  light  and  momentary, 
will  work  out  a  far  more  exceeding,  even  an  eternal  weight  of  glory."  ip.  225.) 

"  He  did  not  seek  to  make  them  immediately  wise,  happy  and  perfect,  as  they 
ultimately  would  be  ;  but  to  prepare  them  for  that  course  of  seeking,  serving 
and  suffering,  which  is  the  appointed  ivay  through  which  all  the  sons  of  G-oti 
must  pass,  that  they  in  due  time  may  come  to  the  glory  of  their  Lord.  (p.  250.) 

Thus  we,  like  Him,  are  to  be  "made  perfect  through  suffering."  "  Men  have 
learned  from  Christ  the  VMS  of  suffering,  us  they  were  not  known  before;  and 
thus  they  have  been  enabled  to  trust  in  God  and  to  rejoice  in  afflictions,  as  they 
could  not  before."  (305.) 


164 

This  is  "  reconciliatioD  to  God  by  the  death  of  His  Son,"  as  we 
see  in  Christ's  death  and  reward  a  pledge  of  the  recompense  of  our 
patient,  trustful,  endurance  of  afflictions;  "  the  best  service,  even  o 
the  perfect,  is  seen  in  the  service  of  suffering.  Those  things  have 
been  made  evident  by  the  history  of  Christ  and  the  experience  of 
His  disciples."  (305.)  Their  only  value  to  us  is  as  leaders,  models, 
or  historical  examples  ! 

When  we  have  Christ's  faith  and  submission  to  God's  afflictive 
discipline,  we  shall  have  Christ's  reward: — "The  Saviour  saw  all 
the  difficulties,  dangers,  and  distresses  of  man's  state  in  this  world : 
He  was  not  overcome  by  this  great  grief,  for  he  trusted  in 
God,  and  therefore  had  what  He  promised  to  His  disciples  [on  the 
same  terms],  a  peace  and  joy  which  the  world  could  neither  give  nor 
take  away.  As  men  learn  from  Him,  and  have  His  faith,  they 
look  to  God  as  the  chief  good  ;  .  .  .  and  they  have  a  joy  like  that 
of  Christ."  (p.  290.)  Their  faith  is  rewarded  as  His  was.  "He 
suffered  for  us  that  we  might  learn  from  Him  how  to  suffer,  sub- 
mitting ourselves  to  the  will  of  God."  (306.)  That  is,  His  suffering 
"for  us,"  was  in  being  our  pattern,  not  our  substitute  ;  that 
"  we  may  make  our  lives  sublime,"  as  He  made  His  ;  "  the  lives  of 
great  men  all  remind  us' ' — of  the  same  thing  ! 

"He  went  before  them  in  the  service  [of  suffering]  which  they  feared.  His 
own  experience  and  example  supplied  what  loas  needed  by  His  disciples."  (307.) 
"  He  has  shown  us  how  the  children  of  God  should  die."  (317.)  '•  They  learn 
from  His  example  to  irust  in  God"  in  affliction,  danger,  and  death ; — that  "  death 
is  a  service  appointed  for  their  good,  and  that  of  others."  (316.)  "  We  see  in 
His  death  [as  a  specimen]  that  submission  to  the  Divine  Will  is  right,  [i.e., 
advantageous]  whatever  sacrifice  and  suffering  ib  may  involve.  We  see  that  it  is 
for  the  honour  of  God,  the  giver  of  life  and  all  its  joys,  that  those  gifts,  when 
required  should  be  returned,  not  reluctantly  but  willingly."  (p.  315.)  This  willing 
submission  and  surrender  of  life  was  the  pattern  set  us  in  Jesus.  '  He  was  made 
perfect  through  suffering,'  and  '  submission  to  the  Divine  Will  should  be  perfected 
in  men,  by  the  sufferings  and  surrender  of  death.'  " 

"  It  is  then  [when  so  surrendered]  a  service  profitable  to  man  and  pleasing  to 
God,  just  in  proportion  to  the  greatness  of  the  loss  [as  if  a  man  is  young  or  rich] 
and  the  suffering  which  are  included  in  it."     (p.  315.) 

It  is  by  this  proportion  that  Mr.  Godwin  exalts  the  loss  and 
sacrifice  of  Jesus ;  He  was  in  a  fair  position,  and  had  a  very  pro- 
mising life  before  Him,  which  He  was  under  no  necessity  of 
surrendering ! 

"  In  all  the  services  and  sacrifices  of  life,  there  is  actually  but  a 
partial  surrender  of  what  we  have  to  God ;  but  in  death  all  we 
are  and  have  must  be  resigned."     (p.  312.) 


165 

He  admits  that  where  men  die  from  necessity,  because  they  cannot 
help  it,  or  with  insensibility,  not  caring  about  it ;  or  where  they 
accept  it  as  a  release  from  present  evils,  it  is  not  "  a  service." 

"  In  such  cases  there  can  be  no  submission  to  the  Divine  will,  no  confidence 
in  the  love  of  God.  It  is  not  thus  that  we  should  wish  to  die  (!).  It  was  not 
thus  that  Christ  died."  "  Death  had  long  been  to  Him  an  object  of  clear 
apprehension.  [He  was  not  insensible.]  He  might  have  avoided  it  [it  was 
not  a  necessity] ;  and  when  He  gave  up  life,  all  the  possibilities  of  earthly 
good  were  present,  and  might  have  been  realised.  [He  means  Christ 
did  not  seek  death  as  a  refuge  from  ills  ] :    He  had  everything  to  render  the 

CONTINUANCE  OF   LIFE    PLEASANT   AND    DESIRABLE  "    (p.  312). 

Yes,  He  had  many  such  friends  around  Him,  as  sometimes  now 
advocate  His  cause.  Mr.  Godwin  here  exalts  the  sacrifice  of  Christ 
by  the  "  sacrifice"  He  made  in  giving  up  very  good  earthly  prospects, 
which  style  keeps  up  the  old  word — sacrifice — in  a  new  meaning. 
Thus  I  make  a  "  sacrifice "  in  losing  friendships,  position,  and 
income,  for  speaking  the  truth ;  in  like  manner  we  exalt  the 
heroism  of  a  young  man  who  faces  death  with  confidence  when 
a  life  of  pleasure  lies  open  to  him  !  It  is  impossible  more  deeply 
to  degrade  the  holiest  character  and  the  sublimest  theme ; — the 
death  of  Jesus  was  a  surrender  more  pleasing  to  God  in  "  proportion" 
to  His  losses  in  losing  such  a  life  and  prospect  as  He  enjoyed  here  ! 

YI. 

As  THE  DEATH  OF  CHRIST  WAS  ONLY  A  MODEL  DEATH,  SO  HlS  FAITH  IN 

God  was  a  model  faith. — We  are  saved  as  He  was,  if  we  believe 
in  God  as  He  did,  and  if  in  proof  of  this  faith,  we  ourselves  submit 
in  the  surrender,  service,  and  sacrifice  of  death,  as  He  did. 

The  re-iterated  declarations  that  we  are  to  believe  in  Christ  Him- 
self and  not  in  His  work,  come  at  last  to  mean  that  we  are  to 
believe  like  Christ  and  in  our  own  work  ;  specially  that  we  are  to 
render  the  greatest  service  and  honour  to  God, — namely  that  of 

DYING    WILLINGLY. 

Christ  is  "  the  Way"  not  as  doing  anything  for  us  that  we  have 
not  to  do,  but  as  Columbus  is  to  all  men  "the  way"  to  America, 
though  all  who  intend  to  arrive  there  must  take  a  berth  and  pay 
their  own  way  or  work  their  passage  !  So  He  died  for  us,  to  show  us 
how  it  should  be  done,  not  to  do  anything  for  us,  as  in  our  stead  ! 

We  are  also  saved  by  His  life,  as  it  becomes  our  life  as  our 
"  experience"  approaches  His.  This  is  hinted  on  pages  171,  172, 
and  is  a  specimen  of  "the  spirit  of  truth"  which  pervades  the  writer. 

In  the  sliding  scale  of  meanings,  the  "  faith  in  Jesus" — trusting 
Christ  as  a  Person,  in  opposition  to  or  exclusion  of  His  work — 


1GG 

comes  to  be  the  faith  of  Jesus — "  His  faith" — the  confidence  which 
He  had  in  God,  and  which  we  are  to  have ;  faith  in  the  Saviour 
meaning  no  more  than  accepting  His  example  of  confidence  in  God. 
"  They  learn  from  His  example  [of  dying]  to  tbust  in  God  ;"  that,  like 
other  trials,  death  "  too  is  a  service  appointed  for  their  good  and  that  of  others'' 
— a  service  in  which  they,  like  Him,  give  "  the  highest  expression  of  submission 
to  their  Father's  will  and  trust  in  their  Father's  love" — a  service  of  submission 
and  trust  which  is  "the  means  of  perfecting  them  in  the  likeness  of  their  Lord" 
(p,  31G.)  This  likeness  of  Christ  consists  in  "  having  His  faith"  and  submission 
to  the  Divine  will.  "  They  who  seek  to  follow  Christ  in  the  course  of  life  are 
enabled  to  follow  Him  in  the  day  of  death"  (p.  317.) 

That  is,  to  display  in  dying  the  same  faith  in  God  as  Christ  did 
when  He  died.  This  is  the  faith  in  Jesus,  and  all  the  faith  which 
Mr.  Godwin  means,  as  we  "go  forward  to  death,  walking  in  the 
footsteps  of  our  Lord"  (p.  316.)  All  those  passages  which  we  have 
quoted  to  show  that  Christ's  merely  model  death  teaches  us  how  to 
trust  in  God,  to  submit  to  His  will  in  the  allotment  of  afflictions  as 
the  prelude  to  glory" ;  and  all  the  many  similar  passages  in  the  work 
which  we  have  noted  but  not  quoted,  converge  towards  this  same  fact, 
that  by  faith  in  Jesus,  trusting  to  His  person,  Mr.  Godwin  means 
merely  accepting  Jesus  as  an  example  in  the  matter  of  faith — 
entertaining  the  same  confidence  as  He  did,  submitting  to  God's 
afflictive  dispensations,  that  as  in  His  sufferings  "there  was  no 
i:ipatience  or  discontent"  (p.  314),  so  there  should  be  none  in 
ours.  As  He  was  so  far  "  reconciled  to  God"  as  to  endure  willingly 
the  regularly  appointed  path  of  suffering,  so  His  imitators  have 
"  the  clearer  consciousness  that  they  are  really  reconciled  to 
God,  reconciled  by  the  death  of  Christ,  as  they  are  thereby  con- 
strained and  enabled  to  surrender  themselves  entirely  to  the  Divine 
will"  (pp.  293,  294).  This  is  our  reconciliation  to  God,  by  faith 
in  the  death  of  Jesus,  as  the  sort  of  death  which  we  are  to  die, 
believing,  as  He  did,  that  God  will  "  reward"  our  "  goodness,"  the 
"righteousness  of"  our  "faith,"  because  it  is  the  same  as  the 
"  righteousness  of  Christ,"  which  God  has  rewarded  already  as  a 
representative  case — "  the  first-born  among  many  brethren."  That 
by  faith  in  Jesus  Mr.  Godwin  means  only  imitating  the  faith  of 
Jesus  is  further  illustrated  in  this  sentence  : — "  As  men  have  faith 
in  Christ  they  will  view  all  objects  as  they  were  viewed  by  Him,  in 
connection  with  God  and  eternity,  and  so  they  will  feel  in  reference 
to  them  as  lie  felt"  (p.  303).  Faith  in  Jesus  here  means  enter- 
taining the  same  opinions  and  sentiments  ;  it  is  the  faith  of  Jesus 
— that  which  He  exercised.  This  view  is  completed  by  the  follow- 
ing statement : — 


167 

He  trusted  in  God  fin  the  face  of  afflictions  belonging  to  man's  state  on 
earth],  and  therefore  had  [as  the  reward  of  His  trust]  what  He  promised  to  His 
disciples  [on  the  same  terms  and  for  the  same  trust],  a  peace  and  joy  which  the 
world  could  neither  give  nor  take  away.  As  men  learn  of  Him  and  hate  His 
faith,  thev  1'  ok  to  God  as  the  chief  good,  and  they  have  a  joy  like  that  of 
Christ"  (p.  290). 

This  is  because  they  have  a  faith  like  that  of  Christ — not  faith  in 
Him,  but  a  faith  like  His  ;  the  "  faith  in  Him"  being  only  a  philo- 
sophical quibble  to  intimate  that  His  was  a  kepresentative  case  ; 
it  means  believing  in  the  way  that  saved  Him  as  the  way  that  will 
save  us.  And  Mr.  Godwin  lets  out  this  fundamental  fallacy  or 
equivocation  by  the  phrase  which  confesses  the  whole — "  as  men 
learn  of  Him  and  have  His  faith." 

Henceforth  let  no  man  be  deceived  by  "the  cunning  craftiness" 
of  heterodox  teachers  using  orthodox  language  ;  when  they  say 
"  We  also  believe  in  Christ,"  they  mean  we  believe  as  Christ 
believed ;  we  have  "  His  faith"  in  God's  justice,  that  He  will 
reward  our  righteousness  and  submission;  we  are  reconciled  to 
Him,  and  no  more  "  murmur"  at  those  afflictions  on  the  road, 
which  the  case  of  Jesus  proves  will  be  rewarded  in  the  end,  if  we 
suffer  as  resignedly  as  Jesus  did  ! 

VII. 

The  natuke  of  Christ  and  of  His  condescension,  not  to  earth, 
but  on  earth,  as  living  in  poverty  when  he  might  have  been  a 
millionaire. 

"The  Divinity  which  was  manifested  through  the  human  nature 
of  Jesus  existed  before  all  worlds,"  and  it  was  "  the  Word 
of  God,"  or  the  "Name  of  God,"  which  "  Word  of  God  became 
human"  in  Jesus  (p.  71),  was  "manifested  through  His  human 
nature"  (page  72),  and  was  formerly  revealed  in  the  manifold  opera- 
tions of  nature  and  humanity. 

God  did  not,  according  to  Mr.  Godwin,  send  His  Son  into  the 
world,  but,  as  he  says  adroitly,  "to  the  world'  (p.  72).  Nor  is 
Jesus  the  object  of  our  faith,  but  God,  who  "  must  be  the  object 
of  faith  in  respect  to  the  manifestation  given  in  the  person  of 
His  Son." 

Not  only  was  not  Christ  sent  "into"  the  world,  but  only  "to  the 
world"  like  the  other  messengers  ; — but  further  it  seems  very  clear, 
according  to  Mr.  Godwin,  that  Jesus  could  not  be  sent  into  the 
world,  for  He  never  existed  before  ;  at  least,  there  is  no  proof  of  it 
in  such- passages  as  are  usually  relied  upon. 


168 

iTor  instance,  we  read  : — "  Ye  know  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  that,  though  He  was  eich,  yet  for  your  sakes  he  became 
poor,  that  ye,  through  His  poverty,  might  be  rich"  (2  Cor.  viii.  9). 

11  Who,  being  in  the  form  of  God,"  "took  upon  Himself  the  form  of 
a  servant"  (Philipp.  ii.  6).  But  all  this  is  explained  away  by  Mr. 
Godwin  in  the  following  Rationalistic  style  (p.  56)  : — 

'  All  the  wealth  of  the  wokld  was  at  His  command ;  but  though  thus  rich, 
He  became  poor  ;  He  chose  the  condition  of  poverty,  that  He  might  be  more 
useful  ;  that  men  through  His  poverty  might  be  made  rich.  He  had  dominion 
over  the  ]  ersons  of  men,  and  the  elements  of  nature,  all  things  being  committed 
to  His  hands.  But  this  power  was  employed  only  in  doing  good  to  men.  The 
Lord  of  all  took  the  form  of  a  servant,  coming  not  to  be  ministered  to,  but  to 
minister.'  '  He  who  had  all  the  possessions  of  earth  at  His  disposal,  gave  up 
all  for  the  good  of  men.  He  who  was  above  all  in  dignity  and  authority,  des- 
cended to  the  lowest  state  and  service  for  the  good  of  men.  In  the  love  of  Christ 
there  is  a  breadth  and  length,  a  height  and  depth,  which  surpass  knowledge." 

Mr.  Godwin  may  well  fly  off  in  ecstacies  on  the  love  of  Jesus  ; 
this  is  the  best  escape  from  the  unfathomable  depths  of  his  criti- 
cism upon  it,  in  which  he  has  managed  to  bring  "  the  Lord  of  all" 
down  to  a  very  poor  condition  indeed  :  the  only  other  question  is, 
how  we  are  to  get  rich  by  such  sort  of  poverty  ? 

It  was  no  wealth  of  heaven,  but  "  the  wealth  of  this  world,"  "  the 
possessions  of  earth,"  which  the  Saviour  is  here  said  to  have  given 
up  ;  only,  unfortunately,  He  never  had  them,  according  to  Mr. 
Godwin's  account.  He  was  "  thus  rich," — that  He  could  have  been, 
if  He  had  been  able  and  disposed  to  prostrate  His  miraculous 
powers  for  His  personal  aggrandisement,  which  is  generally  sup- 
posed to  be  a  stretch  beyond  the  power  of  any  agent  in  such  a  case  ; 
for  the  miracles  are  to  be  wrought  in  furtherance  of  the  mission, 
and  therefore  no  messengers,  as  such,  ever  had  the  power  to  work 
miracles  contrary  to  the  object  of  their  mission ;  consequently  in  no 
view  of  the  case  can  our  Lord  be  said  to  have  had  "  the  posses- 
sions of  the  world  at  His  command,  all  the  wealth  of  the  world  at 
His  disposal,"  to  make  provision  for  the  lusts  of  the  flesh. 

This  fancied  abstemiousness  on  His  part  from  doing  an  act  or  a 
series  of  acts  which  would  have  frustrated  the  purpose  for  which  He 
was  "  sent  to  the  world,"  is  but  a  case  of  common  honesty,  in  not 
doing  what  He  had  as  a  messenger  no  right  to  do.  He  "  was 
voluntarily  poor"  (p.  305). 

But  how  we  get  rich,  because  He  never  was  rich,  and  thus 
"  became  poor"  from  having  nothing,  is  still  a  puzzle.  Are  our 
riches  to  be  of  the  same  sort  as  those  which  He  omitted  to  seize 
unfaithfully  ?     Is  any  Christian  in  the  world  a  penny   the   richer 


169 

because  Christ  had  not  a  shilling  in  His  pocket ;  and  because  Christ 
had  "  not  where  to  lay  His  head,"  do  His  followers  "  live  in  kings' 
houses  ?" 

This  miserable  sophistry  makes  Christ  poor  indeed,  for  He  has 
nothing  to  give  away  but  the  example  of  not  committing  robbery  to 
get  rich,  a  thing  that  would  never  be  noticed  in  a  society  of  honest 
men ;  but  this  is  the  richest  crown  which  Mr.  Godwin  can  afford 
for  the  Saviour. 

Those  hollow  words,  "  the  Lord  of  all,"  "  above  all  in  dignity," 
mean  only  One  Who  could  have  been  rich  if  He  could  have  forgotten 
His  plainest  duty,  and  prostituted  Divine  powers  for  human  wealth 
and  pomp  !  This  phrase,  "  Lord  of  all,"  is  no  more  than  is  ascribed 
to  Alexander  Selkirk : — 

"I  am  monarch  of  all  I  survey." 

This  is  the  reed  sceptre  and  purple  robe  with  which  Mr  Godwin 
mocks  and  bedizens  the  Saviour  of  the  world.  Yet  we  are  assured 
that  it  is  in  Him  Himself  that  we  are  to  believe,  not  in  the  riches  of 
His  grace,  not  in  His  precious  blood,  not  in  the  royalty  of  heaven 
which  He  left  for  a  time,  to  enrich  us  with  the  purchase  of  His  con- 
descension and  death,  but  in  One  Whose  wealth  was  never  possessed, 
Who  never  was  a  rick  Man,  but  only  could  have  been  if  He  had  not 
been  an  honest  One  ;  and  who,  by  a  life  of  poverty,  left  the  world  so 
much  richer  than  it  would  have  been  if  He  had  used  His  miraculou? 
power  to  turn  stones  into  bread  or  dross  into  gold. 

This  is  turning  gold  into  dross,  disenchanting  the  name  of  Jesus 
of  all  its  power,  that  we,  no  longer  having  "  propositions"  to  trust  to, 
may  trust  to  a  "  Person"  WTiose  highest  benefit  to  us  is  that  He 
lived  very  poor  when  He  might  have  been  very  well  o:T. 

No,  this  is  not  the  person  in  whom  we  trust.  We  look  to  One 
for  Whom  the  highest  station  on  earth  would  have  been  but  as  the 
cell  of  a  prison  ;  to  Whom  the  greatest  possessions  of  earth  would 
have  been  infinitely  puerile  and  mean,  and  Who  will  bestow  on  all 
who  rely  on  His  cross  a  crown  of  glory  before  which  all  the  crowns 
of  the  world  and  all  its  rarest  gems  are  toys  and  baubles.  It  is  no 
compensation  for  this  debasement  of  Jesus  to  tell  us  that  the 
"  eternal  Word  was  manifested  through  His  human  nature," — 
"  became  human"  in  Him  (pp.  71,  72) ;  and  that  Jesus,  like  every 
other  creature,  is  "  a  form  of  the  operation  and  manifestation  of 
God."  These  are  idle  words,  to  fill  men's  ears  with  sounds  and 
their  hearts  with  disappointment, — the  apples  of  Sodom,  tempting 
to  the  eyes,  bitter  to  the  taste,  and  fatal  to  the  health  of  the  soul. 

G 


170 

Such  is  the  theology  defended  by  "  some  of  our  most  esteemed 
ministers,"  who,  knowing  these  things,  are  only  angry  at  me  for  proving 
them ;  and  treat  it  as  Mr.  Lynch's  "  blasphemy  against  the  Holy  Ghost' ' 
to  explode  and  condemn  the  following  monstrous  errors : — That 
Christian  faith  is  blind  trust,  and  has  no  reference  to  the  work  of 
Christ ;  that  the  object  of  faith  is  not  the  death  of  Jesus,  or  any 
proposition  about  Him,  but  only  trusting  Himself  in  the  abstract  ; 
that  this  "trust  in  Jesus  Christ  Himself,"  or  faith  in  Him,  means 
a  faith  like  that  of  Jesus  ; — "His  faith,"  which  means  ours;  that 
repentance  clears  off  all  sins  as  a  matter  of  justice ;  that  faith  is 
inherent,  all-sufficient  righteousness,  without  regard  to  or  reliance 
on  the  righteousness  of  another ;  that  the  Epistles  are  of  no 
authority  where  they  seem  to  go  beyond  the  four  Gospels  ;  that  the 
Holy  Ghost  is  a  Spirit  of  Goodness ;  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  a  truthful 
disposition  ;  that  the  church  is  the  Holy  Ghost  to  convert  the 
world ;  that  the  death  of  Jesus  is  no  more  than  any  other  man's 
may  be  and  ought  to  be, — only  a  model  sacrifice  for  our  imitation  ; 
that  the  Eternal  Word  is  in  everything,  as  "  a  personal  presence," 
(p.  329) ;  and  was  equally  "present  in  Jesus." 

It  is  time  our  colleges  and  pulpits  were  purged  from  this  fatal 
taint  and  spiritual  leprosy  ;  and  if  these  reviews  shall  in  any  way 
contribute  to  awaken  the  watchmen  of  Zion,  and  put  the  Church  on 
its  guard  ; — if  they  shall  arm  the  enquirer  against  the  insidious 
attacks  of  a  latent  scepticism,  and  preserve  untarnished  the  honour 
of  Christ  and  the  glory  of  His  cross  : — if  any  are  hereby  aided  in 
their  efforts  to  contend  for  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints  ; — 
if,  through  our  instrumentality,  God  shall  mercifully  open  the  eyes 
of  any  who  may  have  been  blinded,  and  enable  them  to  rescue 
others  ; — if  the  understanding  of  the  artifices  and  sophistry  here 
exposed  shall  increase  the  number  of  those  "having  their  senses 
exercised  to  discern  both  good  and  evil,"  we  shall  be  able  to  rejoice 
with  the  Apostle  Paul,  tlrat  "  the  things  which  have  happened,"  and 
which  at  first  seemed  injurious,  "  have  fallen  out  rather  unto  the 
furtherance  of  the  Gospel ; "  that  "  as  always,  so  also  now,  CHRIST 
SHALL  BE  MAGNIFIED." 


171 

Chapter  XYL 
THE    COMMOTION  IN   THE    PATRIOT   OFFICE,   AND   A 
COUNCIL  OF  WAR  TO  PUT  DOWN  CRITICISM;    OR 
THE  REVENGE  FOR  THE  RESCUE  OF  FAITH. 

The  strictures  on  Professor  Godwin's  work,  called  "  Christian 
Faith," — called  so  by  that  sarcastic  peculiarity  of  language  which 
calls  those  who  have  the  narrowest  creed  "Broad  Churchmen;" 
those  who  resent  earnest  orthodoxy,  "Liberal  Christians;"  those 
who  are  the  most  exclusive,  "  Catholics  ;"  those  who  are  the  greatest 
slaves,  "  Independents  ;"  and  those  who  have  no  reason,  "  Ration- 
alists,"— caused  no  small  stir  among  the  more  affected  intellectualists 
of  "  our  body,"  who  had  stood  as  cherubim  with  flaming  swords 
before  the  throne  of  Godwin. 

Not  that  they  all  openly  espoused  his  sentiments,  but  that  they 
liked  the  honour  of  maintaining  "a  little  latitude,"  and  reserved  to 
themselves  the  right  of  genteelly  rebuking  his  departure  from  the 
faith,  which  at  the  same  time  they  condoned  on  the  ground  of 
that  spiritual  goodness  which  transcends  dogmas,  and  is  upon  the 
whole  a  respectable  affair.  But  now  that  an  obscure  provincial, 
and  what  is  worse,  one  who  had  in  the  "  Rivulet  controversy"  rudely 
torn  the  delicate  screen  of  pretended  generosity  and  justice  with 
which  they  had  vainly  sought  to  cover  and  adorn  then  lack  of  both, 
— that  this  one  should  presume  to  expound  fearlessly  the  errors 
which  they  had  gently  corrected  and  were  tenderly  caressing,  was 
such  as  invasion  of  their  Metropolitan  jurisdiction  as  must  be  sum- 
marily put  down.  So  in  their  collective  wisdom  they  concocted  an 
article,  which,  no  one  of  them  could  be  accused  of  writing,  because 
several  of  them  had  a  hand  in  it. 

•  At  the  time  that  this  was  completed  the  Rev.  J.  B.  Paton,  M.A., 
then  of  Cavendish  College,  Manchester,  in  connection  with  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Parker,  and  now  of  Nottingham  Theological  Institute, 
entered  the  Patriot  Office,  and  was  shown  the  "  article"  that  had 
been  done  on  me.  The  figure  by  which  it  was  introduced  was  so 
maggotty  that  it  made  him  feel  bad,  and  he  assumed  the  liberty  of  a 
character  in  Shakespere, — "  Nay,  but  if  your  metaphor"  is  odori- 
ferous, "  I  will  hold  my  nose."  He  protested  to  the  editor  so- 
called,  but  slanderously  called,  by  one  whom  some  think  a  very 
good  judge — "a  nose  of  wTax,"  thumbed  and  twisted  to  any  shapo 
by  the  Metropolitan  clique  of  liberal  theologians — that  if  such  an 
article  did  appear  he  should  be  obliged  to  throw  up  the  Patriot, 
meaning  that  if  he  could  by  an  effort  swallow  so  nauseous  a  dose 
g  2 


172 

he  conld  not  undertake  to  retain  it.  This  modified  if  it  did  not 
mollify  the  "  wax,"  and  that  particular  figure  was  abandoned ;  after 
which  an  effort  was  made  to  concoct  an  article  that  should  be 
equally  venomous  but  not  quite  so  nasty. 

This  information  of  Mr.  Paton's  visit  to  the  Patriot  office,  and 
his  successful  protest  against  the  first  form  of  liberal  revenge  on 
orthodox  criticism,  I  had  from  a  safe  source,  described  at  the  time  as 
"  a  carrier  pigeon  from  Manchester." 

The  combination  of  minds  in  doing  up  the  final  article  was 
acknowledged  by  the  editor  in  a  letter  to  the  Rev.  Arthur  Mursell, 
who,  with  a  frankness  and  courage  natural  to  him,  publicly  protested 
against  the  raving  insanity  of  the  Patriot  howl,  even  in  its  latest  and 
gentlest  modulation. 

Having  stated  these  "  dry  facts,"  as  Mr.  Binney  would  express  it, 
I  may  without  the  least  exaggeration,  or  over-stepping  the  modesty 
of  nature  and  verisimilitude,  draw  upon  imagination  for  the  method 
by  which  the  amended  article  was  licked  into  shape  and  fitted  to 
come  out  for  the  edification  of  the  Christian  public. 

A  council  of  war  must  be  held  in  this  crisis  of  affairs :  that 
something  must  be  done  was  manifest ;  that  the  originally  proposed 
missile  was  more  dangerous  to  themselves  than  to  the  object  of 
their  conspiracy  was  sorrowfully  conceded. 

The  editor  was  in  a  fix  ;  the  orders  and  arrangements  were,  that 
the  condemned  shell  should  be  fired.  What  was  he  to  do  ?  Nothing 
was  easier  than  to  let  his  more  cautious  adviser  meet  with  the 
unfortunate  concoctors  and  point  out  the  danger  of  their  intended 
operations. 

They  would  be  dropping  in  soon  to  revise  the  proofs,  and  see  if 
any  more  vigour  could  be  infused  into  the  new  "  Protest." 

The  adviser  agrees  to  call  again  at  the  time  when  some  of  "  the 
immortal  Fifteen" — the  original  protestors — would  most  likely  have 
assembled.  On  his  return  he  finds,  say,  Messrs.  Binney,  Allon, 
Newman  Hall,  Baldwin  Brown,  &c,  assembled  to  "see  the 
thing  through." 

"  How  is  this,  Mr.  Paton  ?  You  have  induced  Mr.  Turbervtlle 
to  violate  his  promise  ?  It  was  'the  general  understanding'  that  the 
article  should  go  in  as  it  was,  and  you  have  frightened  him  out  of 
his  propriety  !" 

"No,  Mr.  Binney;  I  tried  to  frighten  him  into  propriety,  for  no 
critical  nose  could  stand  that  maggotty  illustration.  You  will  all  be 
blown  upon — fly-blown,  I  mean."  "  ^Ve  did  not  think  you  were 
so  very  delicate,  Mr.  Paton  ;  besides,  have  you  considered  who  it  is 
on  whom  we  wish  to  do  summary  justice  ?" 


173 

"  Tliat  is  the  very  point  which  you  should  consider.  In  trying 
to  snuff  him  out  you  may  only  burn  your  fingers.  He  will  proclaim 
it  as  an  acknowledgment  that  he  cannot  be  answered,  and  therefore 
is  abused." 

"  I  take  it  that  we  do  not  wish  to  answer  him,"  said  poor 
Tuebeeyllle  ;  "the  point  is,  that  none  of  us  defends  Godwin's 
theology:  our  stand  is  on  the  amenities  of  controversy." 

"  Do  you  reckon  that  article  a  specimen  ?"  inquired  Mr.  Paton, 
with  his  winning  smile.  "You  know  what  you  said  about  'the 
Protest,'  Mr.  Binney — that  '  the  whole  thing  was  an  error  ?'  " 

"True;  but  I  changed  the  subject,  and  came  down  on  Dr. 
Campbell's  '  moral  character'  for  republishing  the  articles  which 
detected  the  error  and  forced  the  confession." 

"  It  is  not  a  good  augury,"  said  Mr.  Paton  ;  "  you  first  shifted 
your  ground,  and  next  could  not  maintain  your  new  position,  for  it 
was  irrelevent,  and  it  was  another  '  error.'  " 

Mr.  Binney,  who  is  the  leading  mind  among  the  Protestors, 
knowing  well  that  Mr.  Paton  is  the  cleverest  fellow  and  best 
manager  present,  quietly  resolves  to  cave  in,  saying, — u  Well,  we 
must  make  the  best  of  the  situation.  Let  two  of  the  brethren 
retire  and  revise  the  article,  and  read  the  whole  thing  to  us  in  an 
amended  form." 

After  some  botching,  blotching  and  tinkeriDg,  the  two  brethren 
returned  and  gave  the  amended  article  to  Mr.  Tubberytlle,  who 
read  as  follows,  and  inserted  the  same  in  the  Patriot  of  October  23, 
1862  :— 

THEOLOGICAL  CONTEOYEESY. 

Theological  controversy  has  obtained  a  bad  pre-eminence.  Let  a  man  but  depart 
from  accepted  theological  doctrine,  and  no  matter  how  excellent  his  personal 
character  may  be,  or  bow  impersonal  and  modest  his  assertions,  be  is  generally 
assailed  with  every  offensive  missile  tbat  the  vocabulary  of  abuse  or  the  genius 
of  insinuation  can  furnish.  Instead  of  a  regretful  judicial  necessity  devolved 
upon  grave  Christian  brethren,  an  eager,  exulting  mob  madly  rushes  into  the 
fray,  and  only  clamours  are  heard,  where  the  voice  of  the  judgment-seat  should 
be  calmly  pronounced.  Instead  of  a  defence  of  truth  in  the  spirit  of  truth, 
hundreds  of  tongues  and  pens  are  loosed  utterly  destitute  of  qualification— either 
of  theological  knowledge  or  of  high  Christian  rectitude.  Nothing  has  been 
more  disgraceful  than  the  theological  controversies  of  late  years  Men  with  un- 
scrupulous pens,  thinking  any  weapon  lawful  that  might  damage  an  antagonist, 
defending  truth  in  the  essential  spirit  of  falsehood,  have  professed  to  "  rescue 
faith''  by  methods  tbat  might  well  make  all  honest  men  infidels, — "  orthodox 
liars  for  God,"  they  think  themselves  right,  and  are  thought  right  by  others 
simply  because  they  may  be  on  the  right  side.  Nothing  so  damages  a  cause, 
however  good  in  itself,  as  bad  advocacy,  and  nothing  so  damages  a  Christian 
g3 


174 

cause  as  an  unchristian  spirit.  It  is  of  more  importance  that  a  man  should 
himself  be  true  than  even  that  he  should  utter  true  things.  In  the  one  case  he 
is  sincerely  mistaken,  in  the  other  he  is  consciously  false. 

At  this  stage  the  enquiry  was  made — whether  the  Patriot  was 
writing  this  against  itself,  or  against  anybody  else  ?  Whether  it 
was  intended  as  an  illustration  of  the  "  bad  pre-eminence " 
"  obtained  by  theological  controversy  ?  " 

Mr.  Newman  Hall  replied  that  it  was  plainly  pointed  at  the  author 
of  the  "  Eescue  of  Faith."  "  True,5'  said  the  objector,  "  but  is  it  to 
illustrate  the  only  ivay  in  which  his  criticism  can  be  evaded  ?  "  Mr. 
Paton  was  afraid  that  Mr.  Grant  would  ask  "  if  the  Orthodox  are 
liars  for  God, — whom  do  the  heterodox  lie  for  ?  "  It  was 
decided  however,  that  Mr.  Grant  would  not  be  permitted  to  answer 
in  the  Patriot,  and  it  would  only  be  necessary  to  persuade  its 
readers  that  he  is  unworthy  of  notice. 

"  In  that  case,"  observed  the  persistent  objector,  "it  would  be 
more  consistent  not  to  notice  him,  and  so  to  avoid  contradicting 
yourselves  by  a  palpable — '  error.'  " 

Mr.    Newman  Hall  thought  it  was  a  very  allowable   figure  of 
speech,  to  say  that  the  person  whom  you  feel  bound  to  notice  is  not 
worth  notice.     Besides,  he  considered  that  they  need  not  be  very 
particular  how  they  treated  such  a  person  as  I  was. 
So  that  the  reading  was  continued  : — 

The  effects  produced  by  such  self- constituted  champions  of  orthodoxy  are  simply 
these — first,  that  many  earnest  lovers  of  truth  shrink  from  a  lawful  warfare  with 
error  lest  they  should  be  confounded  with  these  unworthy  assailants  of  it ;  next, 
that  all  healthy  moral  sympathy  passes  over  from  the  side  of  truth,  where  it 
would  otherwise  be  found,  to  the  side  of  error.  Instead  of  a  just  judicial  retribu- 
tion, which  all  men  would  approve,  the  errorist  is  made  a  martyr,  and  the 
injustice  and  excess  of  what  he  suffers  makes  all  men  pity  him ;  and  we  all  know 
how  excessive  pity  for  a  criminal  diminishes  the  sense  of  his  crime.  Hence,  too, 
it  is  that  outside  the  religious  world  sympathies  are  alioays  arrayed  on  the  side 
of  heretics  ;  of  course  this  is  always  and  with  characteristic  charity  put  down 
to  the  badness  of  the  human  heart,  but  may  it  not  spring  in  part  from  its  vert 
goodness — may  it  not  be  the  effect  of  the  uniform  want  of  judicial  fairness  and 
of  Christian  forbearance  that  characterizes  theological  controversies?  If  one 
thing  be  more  certain  than  another,  it  is  that  the  "  wrath  of  man  cannot  work 
the  righteousness  of  God,"  and  that  the  cause  of  truth  is  far  more  discredited  in 
the  world  by  its  unscrupulous Jriends  than  by  its  avowed  enemies.  How  many  a 
man  whom  fairness  and  brotherly  kindness  would  have  reclaimed  from  incipient 
error,  has  been  goaded  into  its  maturity  by  unscrupulous  argument  and  abuse. 
The  universal  moral  sense  of  mankind  must  revolt  at  the  arguments  and  insinua- 
tions which  are  not  only  thought  right  by  the  wretched  men  who  use  them,  but 
which, — alas,  that  we  should  have  it  to  say !  are  endorsed  and  applauded  by 
honourable  men  who  look  on,  and  who  permit  their  fear  of  heterodoxy  to  over- 
power their  sense  of  righteousness,  and  who  wink  hard  at  almost  any  means  that 
may  secure  the  end  that  they  desire. 


175 

For  ourselves  we  are  resolved  that,  come  what  may,  incur  what  suspicions  w« 
may,  we  will  never,  without  an  earnest  protest,  permit  a  holy  cause  to  he  main- 
tained by  unholy  weapons  ;  we  will  denounce  unscrupulous  auvocacy  of  truth  as 
loudly  as  unscrupulous  assaults  upon  it ;  and  we  earnestly  call  upon  all  high- 
minded  men  in  our  churches  to  join  us  in  this — to  be  strong  enough  in  faith  and 
righteous  enough  in  feeling  to  roprobate  with  all  the  strength  of  their  Christian 
conscience  every  writer  who  is  either  unfair  in  argument  or  vindictive  in  feeling. 
If  they  would  but  be  persuaded  of  it,  they  would  by  so  doing  promote  the  interests 
of  orthodoxy  a  hundredfold  ;  they  would  exalt  and  honour  it,  instead  of  discredit- 
ing it,  as  it  is  now  too  often  discredited. 

Our  own  criticism  of  Professor  Godwin's  Congregational  Lectures  was,  we 
believe,  the  first  that  appeared  ;  and  we  did  not  hesitate  fully  and  uncompromis- 
ingly to  express  our  opinion  of  it,  and  we  trust,  with  a  scrupulous  regard  to 
Christian  righteousness  and  charity,  our  dissent  from  many  of  its  positions ; 
and  if,  as  seems  probable,  the  controversy  which  it  has  occasioned  should  be 
maintained,  we  shall  not  hesitate  in  the  same  spirit  to  take  our  part  in  it  again. 
And,  therefore,  although  it  is  a  trick  common  enough  to  confound  objection  to  an 
advocate  with  objection  to  a  cause,  we  do  not  fear  being  misunderstood  by  our 
readers  when  we  seek  to  relieve  our  souls  by  expressing  in  the  strongest  language 
of  which  we  are  capable,  our  unutterable  dislike  and  disgust  at  such  criticisms 
as  Mr.  Brewin  Grant  has  thought  proper  to  indulge  in.  We  speak  in  deliberate 
xvords  when  we  say  that  a  more  arrogant,  vulgar,  and  unchristian  diatribe  has 
never  fallen  into  our  hands.  We  are  compelled  to  say  that  so  far  as  the  indi- 
cations of  this  pamphlet  may  be  trusted,  for  of  Mr.  Grant  otherwise  we  know 
nothing,  he  appears  destitute  of  every  intellectual  faculty  that  can  constitute  a 
literary  critic,  and  of  every  moral  quality  that  should  characterise  a  Christian 
one. 

Here  it  was  observed  that  the  article  was  too  mild,  and  gave  the 
person  criticised  too  much  credit ;  for  if  what  it  said  was  true,  the 
writer  thus  described  was  too  highly  honoured  by  the  expenditure 
of  so  much  bile.  It  was  further  asked  whether  there  was  any  one 
there  who  did  not  "  know"  the  writer  "otherwise  "  than  by  "  The 
Rescue  of  Faith  ?  "  But  it  was  agreed  that  this  also  was  "  a  figure  of 
speech,"  and  would  prevent  people  from  thinking  that  they  were 
revenging  themselves  for  their  defeat  in  the  Rivulet  affair. 

The  objector  suggested  that  it  would  only  turn  attention  to  that 
affair ;  while  all  the  country  knew  the  writer  from  his  lectures  and 
discussions  on  popular  infidelity.  Could  they  not  hide  their  motives 
by  a  less  obvious  crammer  ? 

They  were  afraid  he  was  at  bottom  a  friend  of  the  person  criti- 
cised :  whereupon  he  offered  to  retire,  saying  that  he  knew  some 
leading  men  who  regarded  "  The  Rescue  of  Faith"  as  a  very  able 
production,  and  he  should  have  liked  to  hear  some  direct  answer 
to  its  main  arguments. 

He  was  requested  to  stay  a  few  moments,  and  was  told  that  the 
next  part  of  the  article  pointed  out  some  of  the  writer's  references 
to  Mr.  Godwin.  "  But,"  said  he  "does  it  give  his  grounds  for  them  ; 


176 

and  do  you  anywhere  touch  on  the  doctrinal  questions  which  he  so 
fully  discusses  ?  Do  you  enter  at  all  into  the  merits  of  the  ques- 
tion ?"  "  Well,  now,"  said  one  of  the  tinkerers,  "  there  is  a  little 
lower  down  a  reference  to  that,  to  show  that  it  is  not  worth  notice." 
"  I  should  like,"  said  the  objector,  "  to  see  how  you  show  that,  after 
the  lengthened  notice  you  have  elaborated."  "  This  passage,"  said 
Mr.  Turberville,  "  is  all  we  think  necessary  on  the  merits  of  the 
question  :" 

"  Upon  Mr.  Grant's  arguments  and  analysis  we  cannot  spend  a  line  ;  they 
maybe  very  powerful,  or  they  may  be  worthless — the  language  in  which  they  are 
clothed,  and  the  spirit  in  which  they  are  conceived,  deprive  them  of  all  claim  to 
attention.  If  there  are  any  persons  who  can  attach  to  them  any  weight  what- 
ever, we  can  only  say  that  they  are  not  the  persons  whom  we  care  to  address." 

At  the  first  sentence,  Mr.  Paton  whistled  involuntarily ;  at  the 
conclusion  he  laughed  outright.  "  Then"  says  he,  "  you  give  it 
up  ?"     The  reader  continued  : — 

"  Mr.  Godwin,  we  believe,  was  Mr.  Grant's  tutor,  and  whatever  may  be  his 
theological  errors,  all  his  students  bear  the  strongest  testimony  to  his  spiritual 
goodness  and  personal  kindness.  For  Mr.  Grant,  therefore,  to  be  capable  of 
writing  with  so  much  personal  vindictiveness  argues  something  extremely  dis- 
creditable either  to  his  College  course  or  to  his  present  feelings.  Mr.  Grant 
might  have  deemed  it  necessary  to  review  Mr.  Godwin's  book,  and  to  controvert 
its  propositions ;  but  a  right-hearted  man  would  have  felt  it  a  '  burden  of  the 
Lord,'  and  would  have  done  it  with  respectful  diffidence  and  with  reluctant  sor- 
row. He  has  done  it  with  gloating  eagerness  and  a  malignant  fierceness  which 
would  have  been  unseemly  in  any  Christian  brother,  but  which,  coming  from  an 
old  student,  is  an  indication  of  a  nature  as  incapable  of  gratitude  and  delicacy 
as  of  courtesy  and  charity." 

The  same  objector  here  asked  them  if  they  had  read  "  the  Intro- 
duction" to  the  "  The  Kescue  of  Faith,"  and  if  so,  whether  they  did 
not  know  that  their  "  gloating  eagerness"  and  absence  of  the 
"  burden  of  the  Lord"  were  absolutely  untrue  ?  He  further  affirmed 
that  the  Eescuer's  delay  and  indifference,  the  urgency  of  others,  who 
brought  the  matter  before  him,  requesting  him  to  review  "  Christian 
Faith,"  the  renewed  application  to  recall  his  attention,  the  suppo- 
sition that  his  notice  of  the  preface  would  suffice — matters  that  are 
published,  and  to  which  there  are  witnesses, — were  too  glaring  to  be 
ignored. 

As  to  a  "burden  of  the  Lord,"  the  published  statements  of  the 
sorrowful  necessity  laid  on  the  writer  to  expose  errors  which  at  first 
he  never  expected  to  meet  with,  stamp  the  Patriot  article  with  a 
very  ugly  word.  "  Have  you  read,"  he  asked,  "this  sentence  on 
the  first  page : — '  The  character  of  the  volume  unfolded  lecture  by 
lecture  ;  the  reviewer  was  amazed  and  pained  at  every  discovery  of 


177 

some  new  error,'  &c.  Or  this,  on  the  second  page  : — '  It  is  because 
the  gospel  of  Christ  is  our  only  resource  in  life,  and  death,  and  for 
eternity ;  because  this  is  not  only  our  own  and  only  help  in  our 
need,  but  our  only  means  of  helping  others,  by  proclaiming  pardon 
through  His  cross,'  &c.  ;  and,  '  for  all  these  reasons  the  reviewer 
has  been  impelled  to  follow  out  this  subject,  and  to  present  it  in  this 
separate  form  for  the  consideration  of  the  candid  and  enquiring.'  " 

Is  this  the  style  which  you  characterize  after  the  fashion  just 
read  ?  Does  it  not  look  like  bearing  false  witness  ?  Mr.  Binney 
requested  that  the  reading  of  the  article  should  be  concluded,  on 
which  Mr.  Turberville  read  as  follows  : — 

"  The  Kev.  J.  H.  Hinton  has  indited  some  '  Strictures  on  Mr.  Godwin's 
lectures  in  a  very  different  spirit ;  we  owe  him  an  apology  for  placing  them  in 
such  an  association.  He  maintains  what  he  thi7iks  to  be  Scriptural  truth  against 
tvhat  he  tliinks  to  be  Mr.  Godwin's  errors  with  the  most  uncompromising  firm- 
ness and  with  great  warmth  and  earnestness  ;  but  he  never  violates  either  argu- 
mentative fairness  or  Christian  courtesy.  If  all  criticisms  were  imbued  with  the 
same  spirit,  religious  controversy  would  not  be  the  reproach  that  it  too  often  is 
now.  Of  course  they  produce  a  corresponding  effect.  Mr.  Godwin  courteously 
acknowledges  them,  and  announces  his  reply  to  them.  Mr.  Hinton's  positions 
are  not  always  ours — some  of  them,  it  appears  to  us,  would  involve  very  ques- 
tionable inferences;  but,  in  the  main,  he  is  successful  in  making  good  his 
objections  against  Mr.  Godwin,  and  in  demonstrating  how  untenable  and 
nnscriptural  some  of  his  conclusions  are.  We  shall,  however,  wait  for  Mr. 
Godwin's  rejoinder,  most  fervently  praying  that  it  may  clear  away  some  of 
those  ambiguities  and  errors  of  his  book  which  have  most  naturally  and  reason- 
ably awakened  the  anxieties  and  jealousies  of  his  brethren  and  of  the  friends 
of  New  College:' 

The  objector  said  he  thought  they  had  not  quite  represented  the 
real  "  spirit  in  which"  the  Rescue  of  Faith  "  was  conceived,"  and 
recommended  to  them  the  following  sentence  from  its  intro- 
duction : — 

"  Faithfulness  to  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church — Whose  work 
and  teachings  are  thus  burlesqued  by  one  whose  office  is  to  repre- 
sent Him  rightly  and  to  instruct  others  how  to  urge  the  terrors  of 
the  Lord  and  the  mercies  of  our  God,  the  wrath  revealed  from 
heaven  and  the  mercy  that  delivers  from  the  wrath  to  come,  through 
Jesus  Christ, — lays  upon  us  the  necessity  of  raising  our  voice  again 
and  again,  that  we,  at  least,  may  be  freed  from  the  blood  of  all  men 
by  doing  our  best  to  accomplish  what  Mr.  Godwin  says  is  '  the 
advantage  of  all  proper  punishment' — '  the  prevention  of  the  conti- 
nuance of  wrong,  or  the  prevention  of  the  influence  and  imitation 
of  wrong'  (p.  144). 

"  It  is  sad  enongh  to  think  that  such  a  necessity  is  laid  upon  us, 
and  that  in  the  chief  of  our  institutions  for  the  education  of  the 


178 

Independent  ministry,  instead  of  the  citadel  of  truth  We  should  find  the 
receptacle  and  stronghold  of  such  doctrines  and  their  emissaries  !" 

After  hearing  this  they  were  not  ashamed,  neither  did  they  blush ; 
they  only  hoped  that  the  public  would  never  know  the  real  nature 
and  motive  of  their  Patriotic  criticism,  and  so  returned  every  one 
to  his  own  home,  expecting  to  enjoy  the  next  Patriot,  and  to  hear 
no  more  of  the  reviewer  who  had  so  disturbed  their  equanimity. 


Chapter  XVII. 

THE  PATRIOT  OFFICE  BARRICADED  AND  FORCED  : 
OR  CALUMNY  DEFERRING  TO  LAW. 

The  "Immortal  Fifteen,"  who  could  no  more  answer  "The  Rescue 
of  Faith"  than  "What's  it  all  About,"  having  displayed  "the 
uniform  want  of  judicious  fairness  that  characterizes  their  theolo- 
gical controversies,"  by  the  honour  of  their  attack,  next  showed  their 
sense  of  their  incompetency  to  argue,  by  the  valour  of  their  retreat. 

They  hastily  closed  and  barricaded  the  door  of  the  Patnot  office, 
cowering  into  a  corner,  and  directed  the  bewildered  editor  to  send 
the  following  acknowledgment — 

"The  Patriot  Office,  3,  Bolt  Court,  Fleet  Street,  London,  E.C., 

"  October  29th,  1862. 
"The  Editor  of  the  Patriot  respectfully  declines  to  insert  Mr.  Grant's  letter, 
which  he  returns  to  him  herewith." 

At  first,  I  thought  the  pronoun  "  he  "  referred  to  me  as  the 
nearest  antecedent ;  it  is  editorial  English.  But  as  to  the  readers 
of  the  Patriot, — how  were  "  the  Fifteen"  to  deal  with  them  ?  Oh  ! 
said  the  editor,  I  "  will  persuade  "  them  "  and  secure  you."  (Matt, 
xxviii.,  14.)  Everything  will  be  right  if  we  can  but  keep  the  critic 
out  of  the  Patriot. 

Accordingly  he  inserted,  Oct.  30,  the  following : — 
TO  CORRESPONDENTS. 

"  We  have  received  a  letter  from  the  Rev.  Beewin  Grant,  which  is  inadmis- 
sible in  our  columns ;  first,  on  account  of  its  style,  which  is  that  of  the  pamphlet 
we  condemned ;  secondly,  because  it  is  merely  an  expression  of  opinion  upon  our 
opinion,  which  can  manifestly  serve  no  purpose,  and  opens  up  a  controversy  to 
which  there  would  be  no  end." 

The  publisher  and  editor  were  at  once  informed  that  unless  they 
allowed  the  same  space,  type,  and  place  in  the  Patriot  for  a  vindi- 
cation, as  had  been  employed  in  maligning  the  author  of  the 
Rescue  of  Faith,  they  would  hear  again  of  the  matter. 


179 

This  brought  the  following  note  : — 

"  Sir, — As  we  are  unable  to  perceive  any  attack  on  your  character  in  the 
article  to  which  you  allude,  we  shall  be  obliged  if  you  will  point  out  the  sentences 
in  which  you  conceive  this  to  have  been  done,  and  they  shall  at  once  receive  our 
best  consideration.  I  am,  Sir,  your  obedient  Servant, 

"  Rev.  Brewin  Grant,  B.A."  John  Howat,  Publisher." 

In  reply,  a  long  friendly  letter  was  written,  pointing  out  some  of 
the  grosser  accusations,  as  "  orthodox  liar  for  God,"  "malignant 
fierceness,"  &c,  with  the  enquiry  whether  the  Patriot  was  so 
accustomed  to  this  coarseness  of  vituperation  as  to  consider  it  a 
ligitimate  exercise  of  its  "  courtesy  and  charity."  The  writer  dis- 
tinctly stated  that  he  was  averse  to  legal  proceedings,  but  was  bound 
to  defend  his  character  in  order  to  vindicate  his  testimony  for  the 
truth. 

The  publisher  answered  as  follows : — 

"  Patriot  Office,  Nov.  4,  1862. 
11  Dear  Sir, — "We  are  of  opinion  that  the  article  of  which  you  complain  does  not 
exceed  the  limits  of  fair  criticism  upon  your  pamphlet,  certainly  it  does  not  exceed 
the  license  which  you  have  yourself  taken.  If  we  had  done  you  any  injustice  we 
should  have  most  gladly  made  you  reparation  ;  but  we  disclaim  all  intention  of 
attacking  your  personal  character.  Our  remarks  were  entirely  confined  to  the 
style  and  spirit  of  your  pamphlet.  We  shall,  however,  be  quite  willing  to  insert 
any  letter  from  you,  vindicating  gour  own  motives,  and  disavowing  personal 
feeling,  to  which  we  will  append  an  editorial  note,  disclaiming  upon  our  part  all 
intention  (!)  of  imputing  them,  [i.  e.  u  personal  feeling  "J  to  you. 

"  Yours  respectfully, 

"  John  Howat." 

It  was  to  be  a  mutual  disavowal.  I  was  to  say  that  I  was  not 
guilty  of  the  motives  attributed,  and  they  were  to  say  that  no  such 
motives  had  been  attributed,  since  they  never  intended  what  they 
indited  !  The  publisher  was  therefore  informed,  November  5,  that 
"  his  answer  was  unsatisfactory ;  "  because  it  placed  the  person 
maligned  "  on  a  level  with  his  traducer."  The  same  post  conveyed 
a  legal  communication  requesting  space  for  an  answer,  of  the  same 
length  and  prominence  as  the  attack,  in  order  to  prevent  further 
proceedings. 

This  was  replied  to  by  the  Patriot's  solicitors,  November  7,  to 
the  effect — that  Mr.  Grant  had  no  ground  for  an  action,  and  that  if 
such  were  proceeded  with  they  were  instructed  to  appear  on  behalf 
of  the  publisher. 

This  was  answered  by  repeating  the  terms  on  which  an  action 
could  be  avoided,  viz.  : — the  insertion  of  an  answer,  and  an  apology 
from  the  Patriot,  to  which,  after  convenient  delay,  the  following 
"  characteristic"  compromise  was  offered  : — 


180 

"  November  17, 1862. 

11  We  have  seen  the  Editor  on  the  subject  of  your  letter  of  the  12th  instant. 
We  still  differ  from  you  altogether  in  opinion  as  to  the  article  complained  of  con- 
taining anything  which  would  enable  Mr.  Geant  to  maintain  an  action  ;  but  as 
he  seems  sensitive  on  the  subject,  if  it  will  be  any  satisfaction  to  him,  and  pre- 
vent litigation,  the  Editor  is  willing  to  insert  in  the  place  and  type  usually 
devoted  to  correspondence  any  temperate  letter  from  Mr.  Geant  in  self-vindica- 
tion, the  savie  being  first  submitted  to  the  Editoe  (!)  and  the  Editor 
will  also  insert  in  the  same  paper  among  the  leading  articles  a  few  lines  of 
which  we  enclose  a  copy.  Our  reason  for  mentioning  that  any  letter  from  Mr. 
Grant  should  be  first  submitted  to  the  Editor,  is,  that  a  former  letter  which 
Mr.  Grant  wished  to  insert,  was,  from  its  tone  (!)  open  to  fair  objection. 
Whilst  we  trust  that  the  acceptance  of  the  above  offer  will  terminate  the  matter, 
it  must  be  distinctly  understood  that  we  do  not  on  our  client's  behalf  for  a 
moment  admit  any  liability,  and  the  above  suggestion  is  only  thrown  out  in  the 
hope  of  promoting  peace.''' 

The  Patriot's  solicitors  were  informed  in  reply  that  the  proposal 
constituted  the  offenders  both  judge  and  jury — that  as  Mr.  Grant 
did  not  have  the  editorial  strictures  on  his  "  spirit"  submitted  to  his 
revision,  his  letter  of  defence  must  be  inserted  verbatim. 

The  following  is  the  Patriot's  capitulation,  through  its  solici- 
tors, November  26,  1862  : — 

"  The  Editor  feels  that  the  nature  of  the  reply  [sent  for  insertion  as  the 
ultimatum  of  the  Kev.  Beewin  Ghant]  precludes  his  referring  to  it  in  the 
leading  article  in  the  terms  which  he  had  proposed. 

"  He  will  not  refuse,  however,  inserting  the  reply  amongst  the  Correspondence, 
but  tJien  he  must  accompany  it  with  a  short  article  of  which  we  send  you  a  copy. 
On  hearing  from  you  that  this  will  satisfy  Mr.  Grant,  both  the  article  and  the 
reply  can  be  inserted." 

The  reason  which  "  precluded  the  editor  from  referring  to  Mr. 
Grant's  letter  in  the  terms"  previously  offered  was,  that  the 
editor's  proposed  statement  contained  these  words  : — "He  [Mr. 
Grant]  conceives  that  our  strictures  contained  an  attack  upon  his 
personal  character :  but  we  are  quite  at  a  loss  to  know  how  they 
can  be  so  construed,  and  we  certainly  had  no  intention  of  imputing 
personal  motives  to  Mr.  Grant."  This  is  abandoned  as  too  bare- 
faced. Even  the  editor  of  the  Patriot  could  not  insert  such  a 
statement  in  the  same  paper  with  the  vindicatory  letter,  which 
exposed  so  clearly  the  hypocrisy  of  disavowing  what  is  so  unblush- 
ingly  perpetrated. 

The  offer  of  the  solicitors  on  behalf  of  the  Patriot,  to  insert 
Mr.  Grant's  reply  in  its  entirety,  if  that  would  "satisfy  Mr.  Grant," 
was  accepted,  on  the  ground  that  his  only  object  was  to  justify  his 
moral  character  against  the  accusations  of  the  Patriot.  But  it 
was  required   that  a  proof  of  Mr.    Grant's  letter  should   be  for- 


181 

warded  to  him  for  correction  ;  also  a  proof  of  the  proposed  remarks 
of  the  editor  for  inspection  and  comparison  with  the  original 
promise. 

The  second  editorial  explanation,  as  sent  by  the  Patriot's  soli- 
citors, was  as  follows  : — 

The  Rev.  Brewin  Grant  insists  on  his  right  to  reply  to  the  article  in  which 
•we  recently  [above  a  month  before]  criticised  his  Pamphlet,  entitled  "The 
Bescue  of  Faith  ;"  we  have  from  the  first  declared  our  readiness  to  insert  any 
temperate  rejoinder,  [this  was  another  pure  fabrication]  but  we  were  obliged  to 
refuse  insertion  of  one  letter  which  he  addressed  to  us,  for  reasons  we  have  already 
stated;  and  we  should  have  been  quite  justified  in  objecting  to  the  letter  which 
appears  in  our  columns  to-day  upon  similar  grounds,  but  we  prefer  to  admit  it, 
rather  than  leave  any  pretence  for  saying  that  we  have  treated  him  unfairly. 
We  are  quite  content  to  leave  the  matter  as  between  Mr.  Grant  and  ourselves  to 
the  good  sense  of  our  readers,  contenting  ourselves  by  repeating,  in  reply  to  Mr. 
Grant's  insinuating  to  the  contrary,  that  "  of  Mr.  Grant  personally  we  know 
nothing,"  and  that  we  had  neither  the  ability  nor  the  wish  to  do  more  than 
criticise  the  spirit  and  style  of  the  publication  he  had  submitted  to  the  attention 
of  the  religious  community. 

Here  the  editor  does  not  scruple  to  affirm  that  he  "prefers  to 
admit "  the  answer  "  rather  than  leave  any  pretence"  for  saying 
that  he  had  treated  me  "  unfairly." 

He  knew  that  his  only  eeason  was  to  avoid  an  action  for  libel. 

When  he  "  contents  himself  with  repeating  "  "  that  of  Mr.  Grant 
personally  we  know  nothing,"  he  does  not  "  repeat  "  but  only 
alters  the  statement  which  he  and  the  writers  of  the  article  knew  to 
he  false,  namely, — "  of  Mr.  Grant  otherwise  [than  by  the  '  Rescue 
of  Faith']  we  know  nothing."  That  first  falsehood  was  written  to 
hide  the  animus  of  the  libel ;  this  second  was  to  evade  the  first.  In 
consequence  of  the  representations  of  some  that  one  of  the  protesters 
the  Rev.  Baldwin  Brown,  B.A.,  was  the  author  of  this  libel,  I — 
while  believing  him  incapable  of  its  malignity — told  him  what  I  had 
heard.  In  his  reply,  which  seemed  frank,  that  fatal  phrase  "of  Mr. 
Grant  otherwise  we  know  nothing,"  was  adroitly  employed  to  show 
that  he  could  not  be  the  author  of  the  article.  At  the  time  when 
he  wrote  me  this  demonstration  I  was  not  aware  for  certain  that 
several  hands  were  actually  employed  in  it. 

But  I  now  believe  that  the  sentence  in  question  was  inserted  for 
two  weighty  reasons  : — first,  that  the  article  might  not  seem  to  be  a 
revenge  for  the  "  Rivulet  "  defeat,  which — like  many  another  crime 
— was  proved  by  the  too  eager  and  early  denial ;  and  secondly, 
that  each  writer  in  turn  might  escape  the  charge  of  writing  it, 
because  the  sentence  in  question  would  be  a  falsehood  in  any  one  of 
their  mouths.     Hence  Mr.  Brown  wrote  : — 


182 

"  London,  Nov.  17th. 
"  My  dear  Sir, — I  read  the  article  in  the  Patriot  when  it  appeared. 
The  writer  states  that  he  '  knows  nothing  of  Mr.  Brewin  Grant,'  or 
something  to  that  effect.  As  I  have  known  you  well  for  twenty 
years,  your  previous  question  is  substantially  whether  I  am  capable 
of  writing  and  publishing  a  deliberate  lie.  I  hope  that  I  never  by 
public  or  by  private  report  laid  myself  open  to  that  question; 

"  And  am,  yours  truly, 

"  J.  BALDWIN  BKOWN." 

It  was  not  till  afterwards  that  I  learned  the  "  whole  trick." 

Each  writer  joining  in  the  concoction  of  the  article  could  say  the 
same  as  Mr.  Brown  says ;  and  so  could  the  writer  of  the  fatal 
sentence,  whether  Binxey,  Hall,  Brown  or  Allon. 

The  editor  knew  that  it  would  be  false  even  from  his  pen  ;  and  if 
they  fetched  some  lad  out  of  the  printing  office  to  write  that  line,  the 
editor  adopted  it,  and  made  it  his  own  ;  hence,  seeing  the  inevitable 
word  for  it,  he  told  "  another,"  and  altered  it  into — "  of  Mr.  Grant 
personally  we  know  nothing,"  which  I  am  happy  to  say  is  true, 
though  not  written  truthfully. 

At  last  the  "  proprietors  "  step  in,  and  make  the  editor  omit  all 
reference  to  the  tell-tale  untruth,  "of  Mr.  Grant  otherwise  we  know 
nothing;"  he  is  not  even  allowed  to  change  "  otherwise"  into  "  per- 
sonally," but  is  forced  to  pass  it  by  in  silent  humility,  after  having 
boggled  at  it  with  a  fatal  prevarication. 

Hence  the  concluding  letter  from  the  Patriot's  solicitors  to 
mine : — 

"  London,  December  2. 

"  Dear  Sir, — "We  now  send  the  proofs  [of  Mr.  Grant's  vindicatory  letter, 
and  of  a  new  Editorial  article,  instead  of  the  one  of  which  a  copy  had  been  sent 
before.]  A  slight  alteration  will  be  found  in  the  Editor's  article,  but  this  the 
proprietors  insist  on.  We  shall  be  glad  to  receive  back  the  proofs  by  return  of 
post,  that  they  may  be  printed  in  the  next  paper." 

The  solicitors  sent  with  the  above  note,  this  slightly  altered  third 
attempt  at  an  editorial  article. 

"  The  Rev.  Brewin  Grant  claims  the  right  to  reply  to  the  strictures  on  his 
Pamphlet  entitled  the  Rescue  of  Faith,  which  appeared  in  the  Patriot  several 
weeks  ago.  "We  have  from  the  first  expressed  our  willingness  to  insert  any 
temperate  rejoinder  from  that  gentleman.  [Their  invention  overpowers  their 
memory.]  But  one  letter  we  have  rejected  [did  reject,  October  30th,  without 
any  offer  to  admit  a  "  temperate  rejoinder"]  for  reasons  which  we  stated  at  the 
time.  The  letter  which  appears  in  our  columns  to-day  we  should  have  been 
qute  justified  [but  not  quite  safe]  in  rejecting  on  similar  grounds,  and  ak» 
because  it  is  an  attempt  to  desciibe  us  as  partisans  of  Mr.  Godwin  :   [which  they 


183 

are  now  ashamed  of  being.]  This  [that  they  are  partisans  of  Mr.  Godwin]  ia 
altogether  a  misrepresentation.  Onr  readers  know  that  we  were  the  first  to  point 
ont  the  jiischievious  tendency  of  Mr.  Godwin's  views.  [This  was  again 
altered  into  k  what  ice  deem  the  mischievous  tendency,'  &c]  We  have  however 
decided  to  insert  Mr.  Grant's  letter  rather  than  leave  that  gentleman  any  ground 
for  complaint  of  unfairness  :  and  we  are  quite  contentto  leave  the  whole  matter 
to  the  good  sense  of  our  readers." 

The  whole  affair — conceived  in  a  style  of  pharisaieal  devoutness, 
to  cover  heresy ;  of  meekness  and  charity,  to  cover  malice  ;  and  of 
truth,  to  cover  falsehood ;  is  consistently  began  with  falsifying  the 
Rescue  of  Faith,  and  pretending  ignorance  of  the  author  in  order 
to  conceal  an  old  grudge  against  him,  and  it  closes  consistently — 
with  the  enormous  joke  of  the  editor — that  when  it  would  have 
been  fair  to  reject  a  reply  he  admitted  it,  in  order  not  to  seem  un- 
fair— though  he  knew  that  he  was  terrified,  and  crouched  like  a 
culprit  before  the  majesty  of  the  law,  because  no  other  consideration 
could  inspire  liim  with  the  sentiment  of  justice,  and  even  this  has 
only  hardened  him  in  rebellion  against  truth. 

Mr.  Turberyille,  who  thus  made  the  Patriot  illustrious,  and 
conducted  it  to  its  decease,  is  now  the  editor  of  the  so-called 
English  Independent,  named  thus  because  the  qualities  called 
"English"  and  "Independent"  do  net  belong  to  it.  The  same 
spirit  rules  it — the  same  clique  gloats  over  its  "Christian  righ- 
teousness." 

Just  above  the  "terms  for  advertisements"  in  the  English 
Independent,  we  read  this  extravagant  weekly  puff: — 

"  The  English  Independent  is  registered  for  transmission  abroad." 

"  The  combination  of  two  such  well-established  Journals  as  the  Patriot  and 
British  Standard  secures  for  the  English  Independent  a  large  and  influential 
circulation." 

After  this  "  catchpenny  appeal,"  would  it  be  imagined  that  the 
Patriot  exercised  "a  malignant  fierceness"  in  denouncing  the 
British  Standard,  which  was  carried  on  with  so  much  vigour  and 
honesty  by  Dr.  Campbell  till  the  time  of  his  decease  ? 

Nay,  "The  Rescue  of  Faith,"  which  was  so  frantically  maligned 
in  the  Patriot,  was  composed  of  a  series  of  articles  that  had  appeared 
in  the  British  Standard,  to  which  Mr.  Turbervtlle  is  now  linked 
by  the  ceremony  of  a  literary  marriage.  Yet,  in  his  review  of  that 
"  Rescue,"  aided  by  "  the  Fifteen,"  he  thus  condemns  the  organ 
that  he  now  claims  to  have  embraced  : — "  He  (the  writer  of  '  The 
Rescue  of  Faith  ')  may  perhaps  understand  us  when  we  say  that  in 
the  world  of  secular  literature,  a  great  deal  of  it  (the  series  of  articles 


184 

from  the  British  Standard)  would  be  called  blackguardism,  and 
would  be  refused  admission  into  any  respectable  Journal" — (Patriot, 
October  23,  1862.) 

In  another  part  of  the  same  article,  the  writers,  who  did  not  then 
anticipate  "  the  combination  of  two  such  well-established  journals," 
speak  of  my  writing  as  "  after  the  approved  style  of  the  periodical, 
to  which  he  contributes." 

But  now  the  name  of  this  very  British  Standard,  which  this  editor 
affected  so  loftily  to  scorn,  has  become  a  respectable  flag  to  sail 
under !  We  may  however  still  expect  the  same  insolence  and 
"  Christian  righteousness  "  as  a  reward  for  defending  the  righteous- 
ness of  Christ  ;  the  same  prudence  in  excluding  answers  from  those 
who  are  maligned  and  feared  ;  and  the  same  readiness  to  submit  on 
compulsion, — in  order  not  "  to  leave  any  ground  for  complaint  of 
unfairness  ;"  the  same  suppression  of  facts  to  keep  its  readers  in 
ignorance  ;  as  in  giving  a  list  of  pamphlets  on  both  sides  of  the  Irish 
Church  question,  it  carefully  omitted  the  one  by  a  person  whose 
position  on  the  subject  was  constantly  and  wilfully  misrepresented 
in  the  English  Independent,  although  his  published  statement — 
"  Gladstone  and  Justice  to  Ireland, " — was  well  known  to  the 
editor,  who  could  not  answer  it,  and  did  not  wish  his  readers  to 
know  of  it.  Just  as  the  advertisement  of  the  title  of  the  present 
work,  which  I  sent  with  payment  to  Mr.  Howat,  the  former  Patriot 
and  present  English  Independent  publisher,  was  returned  without 
a  word  of  explanation.  It  is  only  by  hoodwinking  their  readers  that 
such  papers  maintain  even  the  ricketty  condition  which  precedes 
"combination." 

May  it  not  be  regarded  as  the  completion  of  the  reward  inflicted 
by  some  literary  Nemesis,  that  the  editor  of  the  Patriot  should  not 
only  be  forced  to  admit  me  into  his  columns — as  in  the  next  chapter 
— to  correct  his  boldness,  but  should  afterwards  be  reduced  to 
shelter  himself  under  the  name  of  the  very  journal — the  British 
Standard — to  whose  columns  my  "  style  "  was  so  suitable,  and 
whose  prestige  is  Mr.  Turberville's  sheet  anchor  ?  If  he  had  the 
courage,  the  openness,  and  real  "Christian  faith"  of  the  late  Dr. 
Campbell,  of  the  British  Standard,  whom  he  attacked  while  living, 
and  whose  fame  he  would  now  appropriate,  there  would  be  no 
necessity  for  these  exposures. 


185 

Chapter  XVIII. 

WHAT  I  SAID  WHEN  I  GOT  INTO  THE  PATRIOT  OFFICE. 

THE  VINDICATORY  LETTER. 

"  The  Rescue  of  Faith"  defended  against  the  "  Patriot" 
Article  of  October  23, 1862. 

(This  letter  was,  through  fear  of  the  law,  admitted  in  the  Patriot, 
Dec.  11,  seven  weeks  after  the  libel  which  it  answers.) 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Patriot. 

Sir, — During  the  Congregational  Meetings  I  called  by  appoint- 
ment en  the  meekest  gentleman  in  London,  [the  Rev.  Samuel 
Martin,  of  Westminster,]  with  Mr.  Godwin's  lecture  in  my  hand, 
having  previously  forwarded  the  rough  proofs  of  the  Rescue  of 
Faith.  He  said,  "  Mr.  Grant,  I  do  not  find  that  bitterness  in  this 
production  which  has  been  attributed  to  some  of  your  writings." 
He  enquired  if  I  had  fairly  quoted  Mr.  Godwin.  I  offered  to  read 
any  passage  that  he  asked  for.  When  I  was  reading  some  he  said, 
"You  horrify  me;  if  you  had  not  read  those  passages  I  should 
have  thought  you  were  exaggerating." 

The  proposition  maintained  in  the  Rescue  of  Faith  is  not,  as 
you  assume,  that  Mr.  Godwin  is  not  "  courteous,"  nor  that!  am, 
but  that  Mr.  Godwin  is  not  evangelical.  I  do  not  find  fault  with 
him  for,  as  you  say,  "  but  departing  from  accepted  theological 
doctrine,"  though  I  am  at  liberty  to  criticise  his  "  errors,"  but  I  may 
find  fault  with  him  for  not  departing  from  the  College  after  "  depart- 
ing from  accepted  theological  doctrine"  which  he  was  engaged  to 
teach.  You  defend  his  position  by  his  "  excellent  personal  cha- 
racter ;  "  but  you  point  out  in  the  next  Patriot  the  "  ambiguous 
morality"  of  clergymen  who  do  the  same  !  You  say,  Oct.  30th, 
respecting  the  rumoured  resignation  of  the  Rev.  F.  D.  Maurice, — 
"  He  has  at  length  seen  what  all  unprejudiced  lookers-on  have 
long  seen — the  utter  incompatibility  of  his  theology  with  the 
formulas  which  he  has  pledged  himself  to  maintain."  "  His 
character  will  no  longer  be  compromised  by  the  equivocal  morality 
of  his  position."  He  "  will  be  free  now  to  maintain  whatever 
opinions  he  may  hold  or  arrive  at,  and  when  we  differ  from  him  we 
shall  have  simply  to  combat  the  legitimate  opinions  of  a  free  man, 
and  not  to  condemn  the  ambiguous  morality  of  an  adherent  of 
creeds  which  his  teaching  contradicts."  "  It  is  no  pleasure  to  us  to 
see  any  church  torn  by  dissension  or  emasculated  by  heresy.  We 
wish  that  we  could  congratulate  the  Church  of  England  on   Mr. 


186 

Maurice's  example  being  followed  by  Professor  Jowett  and  his  co- 
essayists,  and  by  Bishop  Colenso."  The  "example"  was  mytho- 
logical ;  these  liberal  and  conscientious  gentlemen  will  not  escape 
from  "  the  equivocal  morality  of  their  position"  till  Professor 
Godwin  displays  that  "  self-sacrificing  spirit"  which  you  recommend 
in  vain  to  the  clergy  who  are  in  a  similar  "position."  But  you 
make  the  "  modesty  of  his  assertions"  and  the  "excellence  of  his 
personal  character"  defend  his  position,  and  you  make  their  "posi- 
tion" damage  and  "  compromise"  their  "  character." 

You  also  turn  from  Mr.  Godwin's  "  excellent  personal  character" 
to  my  "  essential  spirit  of  falsehood"  and  "  malignant  fierceness  !  " 
You  defend  his  heterodoxy  by  exalting  his  spirit,  and  denounce  the 
Besctje  of  Faith  by  traducing  mine. 

With  a  boasted  "  scrupulous  regard  to  Christian  righteousness 
and  charity,"  you  directly  or  by  implication  attribute  to  me  "  every 
offensive  missile  that  the  vocabulary  of  abuse  and  the  genius  of 
insinuation  can  furnish,"  ranking  me  with  those  who  are  "  destitute 
of  high  Christian  rectitude" — "destitute  of  every  intellectual 
facility  [which  is  a  misfortune]  that  can  constitute  a  literary  critic, 
and  of  every  moral  quality  [which  is  a  sin]  that  should  characterise 
a  Christian  one."  I  belong  to  those  who  use  "  unscrupulous  argu- 
ment," write  with  "unscrupulous  pens"  in  the  "unscrupulous 
advocacy  of  truth,"  like  one  of  its  "  unscrupulous  friends" — dealing 
in  "  coarseness,"  "vulgarity,"  "  clap-trap,"  "blackguardism,"  and 
"catchpenny  appeals,"  with  a  "  personal vindictiveness,"  "  a  gloating 
eagerness  and  malignant  fierceness"  writing  in  the  "essential  spirit 
of  falsehood,"  coming  "  with  a  Rescue  of  Faith"  to  join  the  "  Or- 
thodox liars  for  God." 

Suppose  I  am  all  this,  it  does  not  prove  that  Mr.  Godwin  is 
evangelical :  suppose  I  am  not — what  are  you  ? 

Your  article  stated — u  Of  Mr.  Grant  otherwise  [than  by  the 
Rescue  of  Faith]  we  know  nothing."  Why  was  this  stated? 
Was  the  writer  conscious  that  he  would  naturally  be  credited  with 
some  other  motive  for  his  accusations  ?  Had  he  never  heard  of 
"  What's  it  all  About?"  How  came  he,  in  such  ignorance  of  me, 
to  refer  to  my  "  college  course  ;"  to  "  believe"  I  was  a  student 
under  Mr.  Godwin,  and  to  reason  on  that  circumstance  ?  Can  you 
account  for  the  insertion  of  this  sentence — "  Of  Mr.  Grant  otherwise 
we  know  nothing"  ?     It  is  significant  and  suspicious. 

If  it  be  proved,  after  all,  that  this  writer  had  the  Rtvulet  Con- 
troversy to  "  relieve  his  soul"  of,  and  perhaps  some  more  recent 
event,  the  indelible  fiction  of  his  ignorance,  assumed  to  seem  impar- 


187 

tial,  -will  form  a  sad  mark  on  his  forehead.  There  are  many  cir- 
cumstances which  I  have  not  space,  if  I  had  permission,  to  enter 
into  in  this  ;  for  the  present,  and  in  the  Patriot,  I  content  myself 
with  the  leading  points,  and  particularly  with  asserting  that  a  more 
painstaking  criticism,  or  one  freer  from  every  taint  of  ill-feeling,  or 
dictated  with  a  deeper  desire  to  serve  the  truth  of  the  Gospel, 
and  defend  the  honour  of  our  Saviour,  was  never  issued  from  the 
press. 

Even  you  neither  deny  its  positions  nor  controvert  its  arguments : 
*  on  Mr.  Grant's  arguments  and  analysis  we  cannot  spend  a  line." 
This  is  a  fatal  omission  and  an  honest  admission. 

You  go  further,  and  confess  that  you  had  no  legitimate  purpose 
to  serve  in  the  way  of  correcting  any  false  impressions  I  might  have 
made, — saying  that  if  there  are  any  persons  who  attach  any  weight 
to  what  I  say  you  do  not  care  to  address  them.  Then,  what  did 
you  write  for  ? 

You  mention  Mr.  Hinton's  name,  and  heg  his  pardon  for  intro- 
ducing it  in  this  connection :  why  did  you  not  strike  it  out  when 
you  saw  the  impropriety  ?  Everybody  acknowledges,  and  none  more 
honestly  than  Mr.  Godwin  and  his  advisers  and  the  Patriot,  that 
Mr.  Hinton's  "  Strictures"  and  the  "  Rescue"  are  not  to  be 
mentioned  on  the  same  day.  Mr.  Hinton  calls  Mr.  Godwin's 
theology  a  "  soul- destroying  leaven,"  and  his  arguments  a  "  trick 
of  legerdemain  ;"  and  you  say  Mr.  Hinton  is  "  courteous." 

It  is  no  compliment  in  controversy  to  be  praised  by  the  other 
side  :  I  should  suspect  it,  or  else  myself.  "  The  kisses  of  an 
enemy  are  deceitful." 

You  treat  me  "  in  a  very  different  spirit:"  but  your  accusations 
of  me  are  as  groundless  as  your  praise  of  Mr.  Godwin  is  irrelevant. 
For  instance — I  prove  that  he  is  not  orthodox ;  you  reply  that  he  is 
"  courteous  :"  I  show  that  he  denies  the  atonement ;  you  say  that 
this  is  "  blackguardism."  I  show  that  he  ignores  the  inspiration  of 
Paul  ;  you  reply  that  he  is  "  devout."  I  prove  that  he  sets  aside 
the  Holy  Spirit's  personality  and  work ;  you  answer  that  he  has 
"  spiritual  goodness."  I  prove  that  he  represents  our  Lord's  death 
as  only  a  model  death;  you  inform  me  that  I  am  an  "orthodox  liar 
for  God."  I  show  the  fatal  danger  of  upholding  such  a  professor ; 
you  assure  me  that  I  have  "  a  nature  as  incapable  of  gratitude  and 
delicacy  as  of  courtesy  and  charity."  So  to  the  irrelevance  of 
accusing  me,  you  add  the  peculiar  "delicacy"  of  reproaching  me  for 
a  natural  calamity.  Even  our  street  ruffians  now-a-days  do  not  mock 
the  blind.   Natural  incapacity  is  respected  and  pitied.  But  you  accuse 


188 

me  of  wanting  "  every  intellectual  faculty,"  and  reproach  me  for 
not  having  that  "  gratitude  and  delicacy"  which  you  are  graciously 
enabled  to  display,  and  which  you  acknowledge  me  to  be  "  naturally 
incapable"  of  J  This  exonerates  me,  and  implicates  you,  if  you 
understood  what  you  said,  and  it  exposes  you  if  you  did  not. 
_  In  a  correspondence,  the  nature  of  which  you  know,  your  pub- 
lisher said  for  himself  and  you,— "  we  disclaim  all  intention  of 
attacking  your  personal  character;  our  remarks  were  confined  to  the 
spirit  of  your  pamphlet."  This  "spirit"  of  a  thing  is  the  most 
indefinite  and  imaginary  object  in  the  world  ;  it  is  the  refuge  of  the 
destitute  and  the  resort  of  the  weak. 

The  Patriot  publisher  adds  : — "  We,  however,  shall  be  willing  to 
insert  any  letter  fiom  you,  vindicating  your  own  motives,  and  dis- 
avowing personal  feeling  ;  to  which  we  will  append  an  editorial  note 
disclaiming  on  our  part  all  intention  of  imputing  them  [i.e.  personal 
feeling]  to  you." 

Why  should  I  "  defend  my  own  motives,"  if  they  are  not 
attacked  ?  How  can  you  "  disclaim  all  intention  of  imputing  per- 
sonal feeling,"  when  you  directly  charge  me  with  ''personal 
vindicttveness,"  "gloating  eagerness  and  malignant  fierceness  ?"  I 
leave  these  things  to  your  own  conscience.  If  I  were  in  your 
case,  which  I  never  was,  I  should  retract  what  I  said,  instead  of 
saying — that  I  never  said  it,  or  did  not  mean  it. 

The  most  "  discreditable"  part  of  your  attack  is  the  effort  to 
bring  all  the  odium  which  you  heap  on  me,  to  injure  my  "  church 
and  schools:"  from  which  you  omitted  the  "church,"  so  leaving 
the  impression  that  you  only  wanted  to  prevent  me  obtaining  sub- 
scriptions to  some  private  enterprise.  "The  catch-penny  appeal" 
for  "  Mr.  Grant's  schools"  was,  you  know,  what  we  call  a"  Chapel 
case." 

This  affects  only  one  of  our  churches,  and  that  in  a  pecuniary 
point  of  view,  but  the  theological  and  moral  sentiments  which 
you  endorse  and  utter  threaten  the  foundation  of  all  our  Churches,, 
and  contradict  the  first  principles  of  common  honesty.  Thus, 
defending  a  college  professor,  you  say,  "It  is  of  more  importance 
that  [such]  a  man  should  himself  be  true  [to  what  ?]  than  that  he 
should  utteb  true  things."  This  is  like  saying  that  it  is  of  more 
importance  that  a  dispenser  of  medicine  should  himself  be  true 
than  that  he  should  avoid  giving  strychnine  instead  of  quinine  ! 

Of  a  theological  professor  you  say  : — "  Whatever,  fa's  theological 
errors  may  be,  he  [like  Maurice]  uniformly  impresses  his  students 
with  his  spiritual  goodness."      He   "  but  departs  from   accepted 


189 

theological  doctrine,"  which  he  is  engaged  to  teach :  in  this  case 
there  is  no  "  equivocal  morality  :"  he  only  gives  up  the  Gospel  and 
keeps  his  situation — that  is  all ! 

He  has  personal  qualities  of  more  importance  than  '•'  uttering 
true  things."  So  they  say  with  whom  "  true  things"  must  be  at 
a  discount. 

You — without  knowing  anything  of  me  "  otherwise"  than  by  this 
pamphlet — accuse  me  of  ingratitude  to  Mr.  Godwin  as  my  former 
tutor ;  but  if  I  teach  him  the  truth  which  he  should  have  taught  me, 
do  I  not  discharge  the  obligation  ?  "Am  I  therefore  become 
your  enemy  because  I  tell  you  the  truth  ?" 

If  it  is  not  the  truth,  answer  my  arguments  ;  if  it  is  the  truth, 
11  relieve  your  soul"  by  giving  God  thanks  for  enabling  one — whom 
you  acknowledge  to  be  destitute  of  "  eveiy  intellectual  faculty" — 
to  vindicate  the  cross  of  Christ :  that  when  men  are  silent — out  of 
the  mouth  of  babes  and  sucklings  He  hath  perfected  praise  :  ever 
doing  the  greatest  works  by  the  humblest  agents,  and  by  the  things 
that  are  not,  bringing  to  nought  things  that  are. 

Yours  verv  truly, 

BREWIN  GRANT. 


Chaper  XIX. 

THE   ATHEIST  AND  THE  PATRIOT: 

The    New   Evangelical  Alliance  :  or,  how  the  Editor  tried 

to  get  out  of  it. 

The  Protestors  having  experienced  Mr.  Godwin's  highest  form  of 
religion — "  the  service  of  suffering,"  in  their  protracted  terror,  and 
being  forced  at  last  into  what  "  they  feared,"  sought  consolation 
not  in  a  text  of  scripture,  nor  in  the  testimony  of  a  good  conscience, 
but  in  the  testimony  of  an  atheist,  which  served  at  once  for  conso- 
lation and  retaliation. 

Thus  the  climax  op  dishonour  was  reached  by  the  Patriot,  when  after 
agreeing  by  i1-  solicitors  what  observations  it  would  make  on  the  insertion  of  my 
defensive  letter,  the  editor,  on  the  11th  of  December,  followed  the  vindication — 
which  he  was  forced  by  the  fear  of  the  law  to  insert — with  this  elegant  paragraph : 
— '  A  letter  now  lies  before  us  bearing  the  signature  Atheos,  and  written  with 
manifest  sincerity  and  earnestness,  in  which  the  writer  affirms  that  he  was  con- 
verted from  Christianity,  of  which  he  was  an  earnest,  prayerful  professor,  to 
atheism,  which,  with  his  wife  and  children,  he  now  professes,  by  listening  to  the 
discussion  which  took  p'ace  in  Cowper- street  Rooms,  some  years  ajo,\between 
Mr.  Bcewtn-  Grant  and  Mr.  Holyoaile.' 


190 

On  seeing  this  I  wrote  to  the  editor,  saying  : — "  Will  you  oblige 
me  with  the  original  and  history  of  the  letter  which  you  say  lay 
before  you  from  '  Atheos  :'  will  you  tell  me  who  iie  is  and  where 
he  lives  ?"  In  reply  Mr.  Turberville  sent  me  an  alleged  copy  of 
the  letter,  but  omitted  the  address,  which  he  said  "  was  not  for 
publication."  Now  I  did  not  want  it  for  publication,  but  for 
investigation,  and  should  have  gone  up  to  London  and  personally 
tested  the  hoax  ;  but  Mr.  Turberville  knew  better,  and  so  wrote 
as  follows  :— 

The  Patriot  Office,  Bolt  Court,  &c,  Dec.  16,  1862. 

The  editor  of  the  Patriot  complies  with  the  Eev.  Bbewin  Gbant's  request 
to  be  furnished  with  a  copy  of  the  letter  of  "  Atheos."  The  name  and  addbess 
of  the  writer  are  appended  to  the  original,  but  "not  fob  publication'."  A 
personal  interview  has  confirmed  the  impression  given  by  the  letter  itself  —that 
the  writer  is  a  sincere  and  earnest  man. 

Mr.  Turberville  had  quite  a  sweet  season  with  this  "  earnest" 
saint,  but  would  rather  not  permit  me  to  enjoy  the  same  spiritual 
communion.  "Not  for  publication!" — the  writer  was  the  most 
modest  of  his  sect.     The  fact  is,  the  whole  was  a  fabrication. 

I  printed  and  circulated  through  two  subsequent  congregational 
union  meetings  in  Sheffield  and  Manchester  a  pamphlet — "  The 
Kev.  Isaac  Yaughan  ;  a  Memorial,"  on  the  37th  page  of  which 
was  stated  in  capitals,  "  I  ilnew  that  no  such  man  [as  the  alleged 
atheist]  existed." 

Nor  could  any  honest  man  pretend  to  believe  the  atheistic  letter. 
I  do  not  give  this  as  a  reason  for  saying  that  Mr.  Turberville  did 
not  believe  it :  that  proposition  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  he  knew 
better  than  to  tell  me  where  the  man  lived. 

I  published  at  the  time  a  declaration  that  it  was  an  "  impudent 
hoax  ;"  and  whether  it  was  written  by  an  atheist  belonging  to  the 
Patriot,  or  by  some  one  not  on  the  staff,  "  the  earnest  and  sincere 
man"  would — if  he  could  have  been  found — have  gone  through  the 
small  sieve.  Since  Mr.  Turberville  is  still  an  editor  of  the  "  acknow- 
ledged representative  of  the  Congregationalists" — doing"  Christian 
righteousness"  under  the  friendly  auspices  of  Messrs.  Binney, 
Allon  and  Company  Limited  to  "Fifteen" — that  the  world  may 
know  that  an  alliance  of  spiritual  men  with  atheists  was  not  first 
invented  in  the  Irish  Church  agitation,  and,  that  it  may  be  known 
to  what  desperate  and  immoral  expedients  the  present  leaders  of  the 
age  have  lent  themselves  in  defence  of  heresy,  to  put  down  fidelity 
by  calumny — no  matter  out  of  what  place  fished  up — I  will  give 
this  atheist's  letter,   which  so  entranced   the   patriotic  band;  or 


191 

rather  I  will  give  that  alleged  copy  of  it  which  Mr.  Turberville 
sent  to  me  with  his  note  already  quoted. 

AN  ATHEIST'S  TESTIMONIAL  TO  THE  EDITOK  OF  THE  PATRIOT. 

(Copy.)  November  10,  1862. 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Patriot. 

Dear  Sir. — As  one  of  Bee  win  Grant's  converts  from  Christianity  to  Secularism 
allow  me  a  few  brief  moments. 

An  article  in  the  Patriot  of  the  23rd  nit.,  containing  criticisms  upon  Brewin 
Grant's  Kescue  of  Faith  (?)  has  just  been  read  by  me.  The  critique  contains 
so  much  good  sense,  and  is  written  in  such  an  unusual  spirit  of  fairness  for  a 
Christian  journal,  that  I  feel  a  pleasurable  duty  in  acknowledging  the  same, 
as  also  to  endorse  your  estimate  of  the  firebrand  known  as  the  Kev.  Brewin 
Grant. 

My  first  introduction  to  the  "  pious  mountebank"  was  during  the  debate 
between  him  and  Mr.  G.  J.  Holyoake,  in  Cowper-street  Eoom.  I  had  not  seen 
either  of  the  disputants  prior  to  that,  to  me,  memorable  debate,  nor  had  I  read 
a  line  of  their  writings. 

At  the  invitation  of  one  of  Mr.  Holyoake's  disciples  I  consented  to  be  pre- 
sent during  several  nights'  discussion. 

As  an  earnest,  prayerful  Christian,  many  years  a  Sunday-school  scholar 
and  teacher,  a  consistent  member  of  a  Christian  church,  seeking  (!)  to  know 
the  truth,  I  went/ree  from  prejudice  against  the  teacher  of  heretical  and  un- 
popular truths  to  hear  both  sides  of  important  questions. 

During  the  first  evening's  debate  Brewin  Grant,  the  Christian  teacher, 
Christ's  faithful  servant,  evinced  such  intense  "  personal  vindictiveness"[  quoted 
from  the  Patriot !  ]  and  such  "malignant  fierceness"  [quoted  from  the 
Patriot  !  ]  against  his  opponent,  accompanied  with  such  "gloating  eagerness," 
[quoted  from  the  Patriot  /]  to  crush  his  opponent — facts  that  unmistakably 
indicated  him  to  be  of  "  a  nature  utterly  incapable  of  delicacy,  courtesy,  or 
charity" — [the  Patriot  still !] — he  showed  himself  to  be  the  very  "  genius  of 
insinuation" — [Patriot  again] — and  more  than  a  match  for  any  clown  for  '  pious 
ribaldry.'  Having  said  this  much,  I  trust  that  my  subsequent  objections  to 
the  cause  he  advocates  may  not  be  considered  entirely  as  the  result  of  my 
objection  to  the  advocate.  I  was  present  every  evening  during  the  debate,  and 
purchased  the  published  report  of  it  ;  and  the  result  has  been  a  gradual  growth 
out  of  and  away  from  Christianity  to  atheism. 

I  have  been  an  atheist  for  six  years.  My  wife  is  now  an  atheist,  and  so  my 
children  will  be  atheists  ;  my  brother  is  now  an  atheist,  and  so  tvill  be  his 
children.  Of  course  while  life  lasts  my  earnest  efforts  will  be  for  the  spread 
of  those  truths  which  for  [six]  years  have  sustained  me,  and  will  (!)  sustain  me 
through  life,  and  I  doubt  not  will  (!)  also  sustain  me  in  death. — Yours  sincerely, 

ATHEOS. 
Now  first,  is  there  any  reason  why  a  man  who  intended  this  to 
be  published,  and  really  believed  these  glorious  "  truths,"  should 
send  his  name  "  not  for  publication  ?"  Would  this  be  modesty, 
or  would  it  be  natural  "  secular"  prudence,  as  the  only  defence 
against  detection  ? 


192 

Secondly,  he  flatters  the  editor  by  telling  him  to  his  face  that  it 
was  very  unusual  for  a  "  Christian  journal"  like  the  Patriot  to 
show  "  good  sense"  and  "  fairness ;"  in  fact  he  accuses  Mr. 
Tureerville  of  having  been  for  once  blessed  with  a  lucid  moment, 
a  fit  of  sense  and  honesty  so  remarkable  and  "  unusual"  that  it 
did  the  "  sincere  and  earnest  man's"  heart  good,  and  made  it  his 
"  pleasurable  duty"  to  recognize  the  same.  This  dose  of  flattery 
— for  I  believe  poor  Mr.  Turberville  mistook  it  for  a  compliment, 
as  to  the  unusualness  of  his  honesty  or  "  good  sense"  and  "  fairness" 
— made  the  subsequent  courtesy  towards  me  all  the  more  charming. 

Thirdly,  I  do  not  see  that  the  atheist  adds  to  what  the  editor 
and  his  coadjutors  before  wrote  of  me,  beyond  the  terms  "  fire- 
brand," "pious  mountebank,"  and  "Christ's  faithful  servant," 
which  these  writers  had  omitted  to  utter  before.  The  other  com- 
pliments are  only  repetitions.  I  hope  I  shall  always  deserve  the 
last  of  these  nicknames,  "  Christ's  faithful  servant,"  and  then 
I  shall  never  secure  the  approbation  of  atheists,  as  Messrs. 
Tureerville,  Binney,  Allon,  and  Co.,  did. 

Fourthly,  the  writer  is  extremely  specific  as  to  his  want  of  pre- 
judice against  Mr.  Holyoake  and  his  "  unpopular  truths,"  and  as 
to  his  associations  with  that  class  :  but  he  omitted  saying  in  what 
Sunday  school  he  taught,  and  of  what  church  he  had  been  a 
member.  This  would  have  given  a  clue,  but  Mr.  Turberville 
kept  the  name  and  address — "not  for  publication."  For  "the 
children  of  this  world  are  wiser  in  their  generation  than  the  chil- 
dren of  light," 

Fifthly,  "  Atheos"  himself  was  almost  afraid  that  even  Mr. 
Tureerville  would  see  the  hoax  of  an  "  earnest,  prayerful 
Christian,"  "  a  consistent  member  of  a  Christian  church,"  giving 
up  his  Saviour  because  my  style  of  advocacy  was  not  satisfactory  ! 
Why  did  not  Mr.  Turberville's  "  unusual"  "  Christian  righteous- 
ness" win  the  wanderer  back  ?  If  the  man  had  said  that  he  turned 
against  me  because  I  was  disagreeable  I  could  have  forgiven  his 
logic  and  pitied  his  taste  ;  but  when  a  "  prayerful  Christian"  and 
"  earnest"  to  boot  says  that  he  gave  up  his  Redeemer  on  that 
account — Credat  Judaius  ? — Tell  it  to  the  marines,  or  to  "  the 
Fifteen  !"  "  Atheos"  tries  to  bridge  over  this  chasm,  thinking  that 
it  might  make  even  the  Patriot  editor  wake  up,  so  he  covers  it  with 
this  odd  apology  : — "  I  trust  that  my  subsequent  objections  to  the 
cause  he  advocates  may  not  be  considered  entirely  as  the  result  of 
my  objection  to  the  advocate."  Which  of  the  "  Protesters"  cobbled 
this  sentence  ?     Whoever  could  imagine  that  his  "subsequent  objec- 


193 

tions  to  the  cause"  resulted  "entirely"  from  his  previous  "objection 
to  the  advocate  ?" 

Sixthly,  he  makes  as  great  a  chasm  in  chronological  order  as  in 
logical  sequence  ;  for  he  directly  adds — "  I  have  been  an  atheist 
six  years."  This  was  really  "subsequent"  to  the  Cowper-street 
debate,  for  that  occurred  in  January,  1853,  and  this  atheist  writes 
in  November,  1862 — ten  years  after  the  debate,  "  six  "  of  which 
he  had  been  an  atheist,  four  years  too  late  to  be  converted  by 
"  listening  "  to  that  discussion.     Perhaps  he  had  long  ears. 

Yet  Mr.  Tureerville,  in  his  note  in  the  Patriot,  said — "A  letter 
now  lies  before  us,"  "  in  which  the  writer  affirms  that  he  was 
converted  from  Christianity  "  "to  Atheism,"  "  by  listening  to  the 
discussion  which  took  place  in  Cowper-street,"  "  between  Mr. 
Brewin  Grant  and  Mr.  Holyoake."  The  "letter  lies  before  us," 
and  he  could  have  added,  truly — "  we  lie  behind  it." 

This  is  Christian  journalism — to  bring  in  an  atheist  or  manu- 
facture one,  in  order  to  traduce  the  most  useful  and  important 
labour  in  which  popular  infidelity  from  being  rampant  became 
silent,  and  to  introduce  this  clumsy  falsehood  in  revenue  for  another 
defence  of  truth,  not  against  open  but  masked  and  consecrated 
infidelity ! 

All  this  was  done  under  the  very  eyes  of  "the  Fifteen"  advocates 
of  "  a  scrupulous  regard  to  Christian  righteousness ; "  and  but  for 
Dr.  Campbell's  paper,  the  British  Standard,  which  does  not  now 
exist,  nor  is  there  anything  in  its  place,  the  only  reward  I  should 
have  received,  would  have  been  the  "courtesy"  of  these  liberal 
theologians,  who  at  the  very  time,  when  by  force  of  law  they  are 
doing  penance  for  a  libel,  by  inserting  my  defence,  also  insert  this 
tale  of  conversion  to  infidelity,  as  founded  on  a  letter  of  an  anony- 
mous and  impossible  atheist,  and  whose  letter,  as  copied  by  Mr. 
Turberville,  contradicts  what  he  asserted  out  of  it. 

A  parallel  cannot  be  found  in  all  the  annals  of  "  Christian 
righteousness." 

It  is  doubtless  humiliating  to  be  in  any  way  associated  with  such 
transactions,  even  though  but  as  the  innocent  occasion  of  driving 
these  patriotic  Christians  into  such  desperate  shifts,  evasions,  and 
inventions.  In  fact,  I  felt  at  the  time  half  guilty  of  the  cowardice, 
prevarication,  submission,  and  revenge  into  which  I  had  forced  the 
protesting  conspirators  and  their  organ  ;  and  if  by  this  present  time 
I  have,  in  the  exercise  of  meekness  and  charity,  forgiven  myself, 
I  have  no  reason  for  accusing  them  of  the  like  vacillation  of  feeling. 
For  much  as  they  are  enamoured  of  Christian  courtesy  and  charity, 


194 

they  will  not  suffer  these  "  to  overpower  their  sense  of  righteous- 
ness," or  to  allure  them  from  the  life-long  and  impossible  task  of 
speaking  the  unspeakable,  as  they  labour  for  methods  of  "  express- 
ing in  the  strongest  language  of  which  they  are  capable,  their  unutter- 
able dislike  and  disgust  at  such  criticisms  as  Mr.  Brewin  Grant  has 
thought  proper  to  indulge  in;"  and  which,  from  the  inability  of 
the  protesters  and  their  allies  to  answer,  provoked  them  to  betray 
themselves  beyond  all  that  either  law  or  gospel  would  permit. 


Chapter  XX. 
WHAT   IS   THE    CONGREGATIONAL   UNION,     ITS    PRO- 
FESSED CONSTITUTION  AND  OBJECTS  ? 

The  name  "  Independents,"  lately  almost  superseded  by  that  of 
"  Congregationalists,"  as  less  obviously  satirical,  was  adopted  to 
express  the  disavowal  of  all  authority  external  to  any  single  society 
of  professing  Christians  meeting  for  worship  in  one  place.  In 
recent  times  three  forms  of  usurpation  or  external  authority  have 
sprung  up,  in  the  shape  of  "  the  Sister  Churches,"  in  any  town  and 
immediate  neighbourhood,  the  wider  circle  of  some  County  Asso- 
ciation, and  the  more  ambitious  conglomeration  called  the  Congre- 
gational Union.  None  of  these  are  "  Courts  of  Appeal"  :  they 
only  inflict  advice,  and  sometimes  make  it  as  disagreeable  to  refuse 
it  as  to  take  it. 

According  to  our  theory,  union  with  the  "  Sister  Churches"  in  a 
town,  or  with  the  Association  in  a  County,  or  with  the  Congrega- 
tional Union,  is  purely  voluntary.  At  present  non-union  with  the 
two  first  is  a  peculiarity,  and  involves  a  bad  mark  and  possible 
penalty. 

The  Congregational  Union  meetings  are  held  in  May  and  autumn 
of  each  year.  "  The  constitution  of  the  Congregational  Union  of 
England  and  Wales"  was  "revised  by  the  seventeenth  annual  assem- 
bly, May,  1847."  (Year  Book,  1850,  p.  12.)  The  composition  of  the 
Union,  revised  as  aforesaid  and  still  in  substance  adhered  to,  is 
thus  described : — 

I. — That  the  Union  of  Congregational  Churches  and  Ministers  throughout 
England  and  Wales  is  founded  on  a  full  recognition  of  their  own  distinctive 
principle,  namely,  the  scriptural  right  of  every  separate  church  to  maintain  per- 
fect independence  in  the  government  and  administration  of  its  own  particular 
affairs  ;  and  therefore  that  the  Union  shall  not,  in  any  case,  assume  legislative 
authority,  or  become  a  court  of  appeal. 


195 

II. — That  this  Union  shall  consist  of  Associations  of  Congregational  Churches 
and  of  individual  churches  severally  adhering  to  the  Union.  The  qualification 
of  a  church  for  membership  in  this  Union  shall  be  connexion  with  an  Associa- 
tion ;  or,  where  no  Association  is  accessible,  recommendation  by  the  three 
ministers,  already  in  the  Union,  residing  nearest  to  the  applicant  church.  Every 
Church  connected  with  this  Union  shall  make  an  annual  contribution  to  its  funds ; 
neglect  of  which,  for  two  successive  years,  shall  forfeit  membership.  The  tutors 
of  the  Theological  Colleges  of  the  Independents,  and  the  officers  of  their  general 
public  societies,  being  members  of  Congregational  churches,  also  ministers  and 
deacons  in  fellowship  with  churches  eligible  for  connexion  with  the  Union,  may 
become  personal  members  of  the  Union  by  payment  of  an  annual  subscription  of 
not  less  than  five  shillings. 

The  Congregational  Union  is  in  fact,  as  lately  described  to  me 
by  one  of  our  college  professors,  a  voluntary  "  five-shilling  club  ;" 
that  being  the  price  of  personal  membership :  a  church  pays  ten 
shillings;  but  this  admits  its  pastor  free,  and  one  representative  for 
every  hundred  church  members.  My  own  church,  Cemetery-road, 
Sheffield,  was  admitted  into  the  Congregational  Union  for  ten  shil- 
lings, just  before  the  assembling  of  the  ministers  and  delegates  in 
Sheffield,  in  1866.  On  the  same  occasion,  and  for  the  same  price, 
the  late  Rev.  Isaac  Vaughan's  Chukch,  Rotherham,  though  at  the 
time  not  "  recognized"  by  the  "  sister  churches"  and  the  County 
Association,  was  also  received  into  the  Congregational  Union.  It  is 
however  but  fair  to  note  that  one  object  was,  to  secure  "beds" 
for  the  deputations  among  the  families  of  the  two  respective  congre- 
gations. Every  statement  of  the  "  Constitution  of  the  Congregational 
Union"  declares  "  that  the  union  shall  not  in  any  case  assume 
legislative  authority,  or  become  a  court  of  appeal."  In  fact  it  has 
no  power  constitutionally,  and  all  exercise  of  power  is  usurpation, 
even  if  authorised  by  the  Assembly  of  Pastors  and  Delegates,  and 
much  more  so  when  surreptitiously  assumed  by  the  committee.  The 
Union  can  decide,  like  any  club,  as  to  who  shall  be  its  future  mem- 
bers, and  what  shall  be  the  price  of  admission  ;  but  it  cannot, 
without  the  grossest  imposition,  pretend  to  prescribe  the  boundary 
of  the  denomination  :  when  it  pretends  to  this  it  legislates,  which 
is  contrary  to  its  express  "  constitution."  When  it  undertook  the 
guardianship  of  the  general  list  of  ministers  it  ought  to  have  pre- 
served it  sacredly,  and  cannot  without  a  libel  publish  as  a  sort  of 
denominational  document  a  list  of  ministers,  leaving  out  those  long 
on  it  at  mere  ignorant  caprice  or  baser  malice.  It  has  no  authority 
to  exclude  and  depose. 

Of  the  seven  "  objects"  of  the  Congregational  Union  the  first  is 
"  to  promote  evangelical  religion  in  connection  with  the  Inde- 
pendent    denomination."       But    the   practice   is   to   watch  over 


1% 

"  evangelical  religion,"  or  rather  to  lament  any  departure  from  it  in 
the  Church  of  England,  and  to  screen  the  departure  from  it  among 
ourselves. 

The  seventh  and  last  "  object"  of  this  Union  is  "  to  assist  in 
maintaining  and  enlarging  the  civil  rights  of  Protestant  Dissenters  :" 
but  the  practice  is  to  extinguish  those  rights  in  dissenting  ministers, 
while  claiming  them  from  the  State. 

The  Congregational  Union  does  not  comprise  in  its  membership  a 

THIRD    OF    THE    MINISTERS    Or    a  TENTH  OF    THE  CHURCHES.       It  IS  the 

E.U.C.  of  Congregationalism,  though  it  goes  beyond  that  English 
Church  Union  in  usurping  the  domination  which  its  "constitution" 
repudiates.  In  its  Year  Book  for  1869,  "  Pastors  and  Churches," 
enumerated  as  subscribers  "to  the  Union  "  (p.  83),  are  a  hundred 
and  ninety  out  of  two  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-nine  (p. 
400),  English  and  Welsh  Churches.  This  leaves  two  thousand  six 
hundred  and  seventy  churches  not  connected  with  the  Union. 
Besides  this  number  of  "  churches  and  pastors,"  there  are  six 
hundred  and  forty-eight  five-shillings  "  personal  members,"  of  whom 
a  hundred  and  fifty  are  laymen ;  leaving  four  hundred  and  ninety 
ministers — besides  those  of  the  churches  named — members  of  the 
Congregational  Union,  out  of  two  thousand  three  hundred  and  eight 
"  ministers  and  missionaries"  in  England  and  Wales  (p.  400).  This 
leaves  sixteen  hundred  and  twenty-eight  ministers  and  mission- 
aries outside  the  Union,  to  six  hundred  and  eighty  in  all  who  are 
members  of  it.  Nor  must  it  be  imagined  that  the  members  are 
permanent,  but  those  who  desire  to  attend  the  next  Union  meet- 
ings send  their  annual  five  shillings  soon  enough  to  be  enrolled  as 
members  for  the  occasion,  and  to  secure  board  and  lodgings  gratis 
during  ike  sittings  of  the  Assembly. 

This  is  enough  respecting  the  constitution  and  composition  of  the 
Union,  to  enable  the  reader  to  understand  its  proceedings  in  the 
matters  to  be  referred  to. 

"  The  Year  Book,"  containing  statistics  of  the  denomination,  as 
well  as  the  minutes  of  the  Congregational  Union,  is  "prepared" 
"  under  the  direction  "  of  "  the  Committee  of  the  Congregational 
Union  ;"  and  besides  a  list  of  the  members  of  that  body,  and  lists 
of  local  associations,  as  well  as  ministers  in  the  districts  of  these 
associations  but  not  members  of  the  local  unions,  it  contains  an 
alphabetical  list  of  "  accredited  congregational  ministers"  in  Eng- 
land, Wales,  Scotland,  &c.  There  are  certain  prescribed  and 
customary  methods  by  which  names  are  put  upon  this  general  list, 
whicljjs  arranged  in  alphabetical  order,  and  is  not  affected  by  the 


197 

locality  in  which  the  ministers  thus  recorded  reside.  There  is  no 
rule  by  which  the  Union  can  remove  ministers  from  this  list.  To 
remove  a  name  from  this  list  would  be  to  degrade  the  person  from 
status  of  an  "  accredited  congregational  minister,"  and  is  the  same 
in  effect  or  intention  and  tendency  as  depriving  a  clergyman  of 
holy  orders.  It  is  true  that  any  churches  might  choose  or  cling  to 
such  minister,  but  if  at  the  time  of  his  "  professional  decapitation  " 
he  should  be  "  without  pastoral  charge,"  it  would  go  hard  with  him 
in  attempting  to  secure  "  a  settlement,"  especially  as  the  officials 
who  may  perform  the  act  would  be  diligent  in  disparaging  him  in 
order  to  justify  themselves  :  and  secret  calumny  is  an  arrow  that 
flieth  in  darkness,  and  cannot  well  be  guarded  against.  If  any 
should  aid  the  excommunicated  pastor  they  would  be  a  mark  for 
the  same  shaft,  but  this  is  a  danger  to  which  few  Independents 
expose  themselves.     I  know  only  one. 


Chapter  XXI. 

THE   ABSOLUTISM   OF    UNION    OFFICIALS,    AND    THE 

POWER  OF  ARBITRARY  MINISTERIAL  DECAPITATION. 

Official  Correspondence,  1S66. 

An  instance  of  this  kind  of  excommunication,  in  which  I  defended 
the  victim  and  paid  the  penalty,  will  amaze  if  it  does  not  amuse 
those  simple  souls  who  think  that  the  leaders  of  Independency  are 
friends  of  independence.  The  late  Rev.  Isaac  Vaughan,  of  Masbro' 
Chapel,  whose  name  to  the  end  of  his  life  was  in  "the  West-Riding 
Congregational  Register,"  and  who  was  on  the  committee  of  the 
Rotherham  College,  had  this  added  to  some  other  troubles,  under 
the  combined  weight  of  which  he  sunk, — that  between  a  professor 
of  the  college,  and  the  Year-book  editor,  his  name  was  secretly 
erased  from  the  list  of  accredited  congregational  ministers. 

Though  his  decease  occurred  soon  after  this,  I  felt  that  in 
vindication  of  his  memory,  and  of  the  principles  of  our  denomina- 
tion, some  enquiry  into  summary  private  despotism  was  required. 

I  first  applied  to  the  immediate  officials,  the  editor  of  the  Yea: 
Book,  and  the  district  secretaries  from  whom,  as  to  new  names, 
he  should  receive  information ;  and  those  new  names  alone  are 
specifically  regulated  for. 


198 

To  the  Editor  op  the  Congregational  Tear  Book. 

July  20th,  1866, 

Dear  Sir, — I  should  be  greatly  obliged  if  you  could  inform  me  how  it  happened 
that  the  name  of  the  Kev.  Isaac  Vaughan  was  removed  from  the  list  of 
Congregational  Ministers  in  the  last  Year  Book. 

As  you  are  the  editor,  I  take  the  liberty  of  enquiring  from  you  on  ivhat  grounds 
and  by  whose  arrangement  the  omission  was  made.  I  see  at  the  beginning  of 
the  list  your  rules  for  adding  names ;  what  I  wish  to  learn  is  the  authority  and 
process  of  removing  them. 

It  could  not  be  accidental,  because  it  is  too  systematic.  When  his  church  at 
Masbro'  was  reported  "vacant,"  he  should  have  been  mentioned  amongst  the 
'removals"  as  a  matter  of  course  :  and  this  I  suppose  the  editor  would  have 
attended  to,  as  in  all  other  cases,  if  he  had  not  received  directions  to  the  con- 
trary.    I  buried  Mr.  Vaughan  last  Fridav.     Yours  respectfully, 

BREWIN   GRANT. 

The  answer  to  this  enquiry  is  a  rare  specimen  of  quietly  putting 
a  man  out  of  the  way  : — 

Congregational  Union  of  England  and  Wales, 

18,  South  Street,  Finsbury,  E.C.,  July  30th,  1866. 

My  dear  Sir, — The  authority  applies  equally  to  admission  or  omission.  This 
is  all  I  can  say  on  the  matter.  As  the  "good  man"  has  gone,  I  trust  to  a 
blessed  home,  it  is  desirable  that  all  reference  to  the  past  should  drop. 

Revd.  B.  Grant.  Yours  truly,  Robert  Ashton. 

To  this  I  replied  from — 

Blackpool,  August  2nd,  1866. 

Dear  Sir, — If  a  man  may  be  "put  away  privily" — guillotined  in  the  dark,  by 
the  arbitrary  will  of  unknown  persons,  who  employ  an  editor  as  an  instrument, 
and  who  are  in  turn  screened  by  his  "discretionary  silence" — let  us  hide  our 
heads  in  shame  and  say  no  more  about  our  boasted  Independent  principles. 

I  am  told  "the  authority  applies  equally  to  admission  or  omission,"  that  is, 
as  the  names  are  added  to  our  list,  by  the  recommendation  of  a  college  tutor  or 
a  district  secretary,  or  two  neighbouring  ministers,  so  any  college  tutor,  district 
secretary,  &c,  may  of  their  own  mere  motion,  direct  you  to  erase  any  name 
from  the  list  of  Congregational  ministers  ! 

The  thing  is  incredible  and  monstrous.  Nor  do  you  tell  where  the  rule  is  to 
be  found. 

Yousay,  "the  'good  man'  has,  you  trust,  gone  to  a  blessed  home."  I  trust  you 
meant  the  phrase  sincerely  and  not  contemptuously ;  and  if  so,  you  are  con- 
demned out  of  your  own  mouth  in  having  treated  him  as  a  bad  man. 

Pardon  me  if  I  resent  the  slighting  and  doubtful  tone  of  "trust,"  in  which  you 
dismiss  so  estimable  a  man,  whom  you  have  helped  to  wrong. 

Because  the  "  good  man  "  has  gone,  "  as  you  trust  to  a  blessed  home,"  you 
say  "  it  is  desirable  that  all  reference  to  the  past  should  drop."  This  is  exceed- 
ingly inconsequential,  and  it  could  be  said  by  any  one  who  had  helped  a  "  good 
man"  "home,"  prematurely,  which  I  am  sure  his  persecutors  did. 

It  should  be  needless  to  remind  you  that  you  have  not  answered  my  question, — 
by  what  rule  and,  at  ivhose  suggestion,  you  struck  off  this  revered  name  from 
the  list  of  accredited  congregational  ministers.     You  assert  what  is  impossible 


199 

and  contradictor}-,  that  "  the  same  authority  "  adds  or  removes  these  names  ;  by 
which  rule  one  tutor  could  add  and  another  could  remove  the  same  name ;  so  it 
would  be  o?i  and  off  at  the  same  time. 

You  are  responsible  to  the  entire  denomination  and  the  Christian  public,  not  to 
mention  higher  relationships,  which  cannot  be  escaped  by  saying  l>  this  is  all  I 
can  say  on  the  matter."  You  can  say  more  ;  and  it  is  neither  "  desirable"  nor 
possible,  that  "  all  reference  to  the  past  should  drop." 

Yours  faithfully,  Brewin  Grant. 

The  Eev.  Robert  Ashton,  Editor  of  the  Congregational  Year  Book. 

No  answer  was  vouchsafed  to  this,  the  editor  being  in  his 
impregnable  irresponsible  position. 

The  following  was  addressed  to  the  Rev.  F.  J.  Falding,  D.D. — 

"July  29,  1866. 

"  Dear  Sir, — When  I  enquired  why  Mr.  Yaughan's  name  was  removed  from 
the  list  of  ministers  in  the  Year  Book,  and  why  it  does  not  appear  in  the  list  of 
"  removals,"  though  Masbro'  is  reported  "vacant,"  I  have  been  told  that  the 
district  secretary  makes  out  the  lists ;  so  it  is  put  down  to  you,  as  secretary  of 
this  district.  I  should  be  obliged  if  you  would  inform  me  as  to  the  truth  on  this 
matter.  "  Yours  faithfully,  Brewin  Grant." 

In  answer,  I  received  this  letter — 

"Kotherham  College,  August  2, 18G6. 
"  Dear  Sir. — I  will  give  you  any  information  which  you  can  require  on  the 
subject  of  your  note  if  you  will  call  on  me,  but  I  decline  to  enter  into  any  corre- 
spondence about  it.  To  prevent  any  unnecessary  trouble  or  delay,  inform  me 
when  I  may  expect  the  favour  of  a  call,  and  I  will  be  at  home  to  see  you  at  the 
time  you  appoint,  or  let  you  know  if  I  cannot  be. 

"  I  am,  dear  Sir,  yours  truly, 
"  Eev.  B.  Grant,  B.A.,  Sheffield."  "  F.  J.  Falding." 

In  answer  I  wrote  as  follows — 

"  Sheffield,  August  4,  1866. 

"  Dear  Sir,— I  returned  home  late  last  evening,  and  so  was  unable  to 
acknowledge  sooner  the  receipt  of  a  letter  in  which  you  intimate  that  you  have 
"  any  information  which  I  can  require  on  the  subject  of  my  note,  but  decline  "  to 
put  it  in  writing.  As  the  transaction  to  which  I  refer  was  a  public  act,  though 
privately  suggested,  I  seek  only  such  information  as  can  be  honestly  laid  before 
the  public,  and  such  as  any  member  of  our  denomination  would  have  a  right  to 
•expect  from  the  officials  concerned. 

"  Supposing  you  to  be  clear  in  the  matter,  I  see  no  difficulty  in  the  way  of 
your  disavowing  all  share  in  so  grave  an  act  of  injustice  and  indignity. 

"  The  interview  for  which  you  give  me  an  opportunity  could  answer  no  useful 
end,  unless  I  could  publish  the  information  you  can  afford ;  but  as  you  seem  to 
desire  secrecy,  of  which  there  has  been  too  much  already,  I  decline  to  enter  into 
any  conversation  in  a  matter  of  public  justice,  which  may  not  be  proclaimed  on 
the  house  tops.  "  Yours  very  truly,  Brewin  Grant." 

**  The  Eev.  F.  J.  Falding,  D.D." 


200 

The  secretary  of  the  West  Riding  Association,  in  which  the 
Sheffield  and  Masbro'  district  is  included,  could  afford  to  be  explicit. 
He  therefore  wrote  in  reply  as  follows : — 

"  Moorville,  Beeston  Hill,  Leeds,  August  8,  1866. 

"  My  dear  Mr.  Grant, — Yours  from  Blackpool  reached  me  this  morning, 
and  according  to  your  request  I  reply  to  it  by  the  first  post.  I  am  only  one  of 
six  persons  upon  whom  the  duty  is  devolved  annually,  by  the  Bev.  R.  Ashton,  of 
revising  the  fist  of  West  Biding  ministers  ;  the  others  are  the  secretaries  of  the 
district.  If  you  are  so  fortunate  as  to  be  a  peruser  of  the  "  West  Riding  Congre- 
gational Register,"  for  the  contents  of  which  I  am  directly  responsible,  you  may  find 
Mr.  Yaughan's  name  in  the  last  list  of  the  "  Congregational  ministers  of  the  West 
Riding,"  which  was  published  only  a  few  weeks  ago.  Officially  I  never  do  any- 
thing which  I  am  not  instructed  to  do  by  my  committee,  and  I  never  received 
any  instructions  respecting  Mr.  Yaughan  from  that  body. 
With  best  regards,  I  am,  yours  truly, 

Rev.  B.  Grant,  B.A.  JAMES  HUGHES  MORGAN. 

Before  writing  to  the  secretary  of  the  Union,  I  had  circulated 
by  post  "  The  Rev.  Isaac  Vaug-han,  a  Memorial,  with  Reflections 
on  the  Necessity  for  Independence  among  the  People  called  Indepen- 
dents, in  order  to  work  out  their  Church  Principles." 

In  reply  to  a  copy  of  this,  I  received  the  following  emphatic 
testimony  from  the  Rev.  Joseph  Parker,  Manchester  : — 

(The  Italics  or  Small  Capitals  in  this  letter  are  not  the  writer's.) 

Old  Trafford,  Sept.  12th,  1866. 

My  dear  Sir. — I  received  yonr  pamphlet,  for  which  I  beg  to  thank  you.  I 
have  read  it  with  deep  and  mingled  interest,  for  I  knew  Mr.  Yaughan  thirteen  or 
fourteen  years  ago,  and  respected  him  very  highly.  Of  his  latter  life  I  have 
not  known  anything  except  what  has  appeared  occasionally  respecting  his  public 
services  in  the  newspapers.  I  feel  that  surely  you  must  have  missed  a  link  in 
your  painful  narrative ;  it  seems  to  me  utterly  impossible  that  for  the  reasons 
you  have  assigned,  or  rather  the  facts  you  have  stated,  that  his  name  could 
have  been  omitted  from  the  "  Congregational  Year  Book."  Are  you  quite  sure 
that  no  link  has  escaped  your  attention  ?  Here  and  there  I  feel  as  if  a  point- 
had  been  kept  back  from  you,  and  a  knowledge  of  which  would  have  altered  the 
complexion  of  the  whole  case,  Have  you  no  reason  to  think  that  this  is  so  ?  If 
not,  I  must  pronounce  the  case  one  of  extraordinary  and  indeed  of  inexcusable 
severity.  If  this  kind  of  thing  is  to  be  tolerated,  then  no  man's  name 
is  safe  ;  tour  name,  or  mine,  or  the  name  of  any  other  brother  may  disappear 
without  the  slightest  reason  being  assigned  to  us  for  its  omission.*    The 

THING     REALLY    OUGHT    TO   BE     LOOKED   INTO  ;     and    IF   NO    SUFFICIENT   REASON 

BE  forthcoming  for  the  omission  of  Mr.  Yaughan's  name,  then  men  who  lay 
any  claim  to  self-respect  ought  to  withdkaw  their  names  from  the  list  of 
"  accredited  Independent  Ministers, "t  and  by  a  quiet  earnest  protest  show  that 
while  they  cannot  cure  an  evil,  yet  they  will  do  their  utmost  to  bring  it  into  dis- 
favour.     I  am  quite  anxious  about  the  case.      If  anything  further  should  turn 

*  Dr.  Paeker  was  a  prophet  here,  so  far  as  my  name  is  concerned.  +But  will  he  or  any 
others  who  "  lay  claim  to  self-respect"  speak  out  ?   Will  he  u  withdraw"  his  "  name  ?'' 


201 

up  to  cast  light  upon   any  phase  of  it  do  let  me  know,  for  I  feel  that  the 

HONOUR   AND    INTEGRITY    OF    BRITISH  CONGREGATIONALISM  ARE  ON  THEIR  TRIAL. 

With  repeated  thanks  for  your  pamphlet,  and  with  an  earnest  hope  that  you 
have  overlooked  some  important  fact,  I  am  most  truly  yours, 

JOSEPH  PARKER, 

Rev.  Brewin  Grant,  B.A.,  Sheffield. 

Sheffield,  Sept.  13th,  1866. 

My  dear  Sir, — The  missing  links  which  you  require  should  have  been  supplied 
by  the  Rev.  Robert  Ashton,  the  editor  of  the  Congregational  Tear  Book,  or  by  the 
secretary  of  the  district  (Dr.  Falding). 

You  consider  it  "  impossible"  that,  merely  on  account  of  "  the  facts"  I  have 
stated,  "  his  name  could  have  been  omitted  from  the  Congregational  Year  Book." 
You  will  observe  that  I  have  not  attempted  to  give  either  "  reasons"  or  "  facts" 
to  account  for  that  erasure,  but  have  simply  inquired — of  those  who  ought  to 
answer — what  those  reasons  and  facts  were  :  "  on  what  grounds  and  by  whose 
arrangement  the  omission  was  made  ?" 

All  the  facts  in  the  world — whether  manufactured  after  the  victim  is  dead  or 
not — will  never  justify  expulsion  without  notice  or  trial,  any  more  than  a  police- 
man can  hang  a  prisoner  whether  guilty  or  not. 

You  have  no  alternative  but  to  lift  up  your  voice  for  the  "integrity  and  honour 
of  British  Congregationalism,"  which  you  say  "  are  on  their  trial." 

How  can  we  utter  protests  against  tyranny,  corruption,  and  patronage  in  other 
sections,  when  these  things  are  permitted  in  our  own  ? 

Be  good  enough  to  observe  that  all  the  positions  I  assume  are  independent 
of  any  view  of  Mr.  Vaughan's  character  ;  the  process  of  treatment  by  the 
Year  Book  managers  was  utterly  illegal,  arbitrary,  and  tyrannical;  for  a  man 
has  a  right  even  to  be  hung  constitutionally.  Therefore,  no  new  facts  would 
serve  your  turn,  for  the  fact  of  the  methods  pursued,  irrespective  of  the 
character  of  the  person  so  treated,  is  a  scandal  to  our  denomination. 

But,  while  I  thus  distinguish  between  Mr.  Yaughan's  character  and  the  real 
question  at  issue,  I  in  no  degree  swerve  from  the  assertion,  that  taking  him  for 
all  in  all,  I  never  knew  a  better  or  worthier  minister  of  the  gospel. 

Yours  very  truly, 

BREWIN   GRANT. 

I  next  wrote  to  the  committee  of  the  Congregational  Union, 
stating  the  case  for  the  consideration  of  the  members  of  that  body, 
who  were  in  fact  responsible  for  the  introduction  of  this  tyranny. 

"Sheffield,  Sept.  17,  1866. 

"To  the  Eev.  George  Smith,  D.D.,  Secretary  of  the  Congre- 
gational Union. 

"My  dear  Sir, — I  beg,  through  you,  to  call  attention  to  a 
question  directly  affecting  the  Congregational  Union,  from 
whose  organ — the  'Year  Book  for  1866' — a  minister's  name  is 
purposely  erased,  by  the  editor,  without  any  intimation  having  been 
given  to  the  minister  so  excluded. 

"The  committee  repudiates  responsibility  for  any  accidental  omis- 
sions.    But  this  was  a  deliberate  act,  which  the  editor  refuses  to 


202 

explain,  further  than  by  a  reference  to  the  rules  of  admission,  at 
the  head  of  the  alphabetical  list  of  '  accredited  ministers,'  which 
rules  do  not  refer  to,  nor  provide  for,  exclusion. 

"This  question  is  independent  of  the  character  of  the 
excluded  minister,  now  deceased,  and  which  won  for  him  the 
esteem  of  many  friends;  for  his  exclusion  was  the  secret  and 
arbitrary  act  of  your  official,  directed,  perhaps,  by  others,  the 
scandal  of  which  attaches  to  your  "Year  Book."  To  pass  by  this 
act  of  tyranny  will  be  to  endorse  it,  and  the  world  will  take  know- 
ledge of  our  conduct  alongside  our  boasted  liberal  and  independent 
principles.  We  make  it  our  own  act  and  deed,  as  a  Congregational 
Union,  if  we  endorse  the  "Year  Book,"  and  say  nothing  openly 
and  officially  against  that  private  professional  decapitation  of  one  of 
our  ministers  by  the  silent  erasure  of  his  name  from  the  "accre- 
dited" list. 

"We  can  no  more  talk  of  our  Bicentenary  heroes  and  martyrs, 
if  we  show  to  the  whole  world  that,  as  far  as  we  can,  we  inflict  all 
the  injustice  which  they  suffered  or  practically  connive  at  it. 

"As  I  do  not  desire  to  see  any  conflict  or  confusion  in  our  meet- 
ings, I  am  anxious  to  know  from  you,  whether  the  committee  of 
the  Union  will  be  prepared  with  any  explanation  of  this  mysterious 
procedure,  to  which  any  one  of  us  may  be  exposed,  and  which  it  is 
no  less  necessary  to  have  explained  because  the  victim  of  it  'is 
gone  to  a  blessed  home.' 

"Yours  truly, 

"BREWIN  GRANT." 

The  following  reply  was  sent  to  me  by  the  secretary,  the  Rev. 
George  Smith,  D.D. : — 

"  Congregational  Union  of  England  and  Wales, 

18,  South-street,  Finsbury,  E.C.,  Sept.  25,  1866. 

"  My  dear  Sir, — I  should  have  answered  your  note  earlier,  but 
for  the  fact  that  I  was  from  home  when  it  was  delivered  at  my 
house,  and  though  it  followed  me  at  some  distance  of  time,  your 
pamphlet  ['  the  Rev.  Isaac  Yaughan  :  a  Memorial']  did  not ;  the 
latter  I  have  read  since  my  return  and  the  former  I  sent  to  Mr. 
Ashton,  [the  Union's  editor  of  the  Year  Book].  I  have  since  seen 
and  conversed  with  him  on  the  subject,  and  I  find  that  he  has  only 
one  rule  in  relation  to  the  annual  insertion  of  names  in  the  Year 
Book.  He  places  there  only  those  who  are  returned  to  him  [by 
the  district  secretaries].     Mr.  Vaughan's  name  was  not  so  returned 


203 

[i.e.  by  Dr.  Falding,  district    secretary,]  last  year,  and  conse- 
quently it  was  omitted  from  the  printed  list. 

"I  am  sure  that  Mr.  Ashton  was  not  influenced  in  any  degree 
by  personal  feeling,  but  simply  acted  on  a  rule  which  he  applies 
alike  to  admission  and  omission.  Neither  his  colleague  [Dr.  Smith] 
nor  the  committee  interfere  with  his  duty  [caprice  ?  ]  as  editor, 
and  a  prefatory  note  in  the  volume  distinctly  declares  that  the  com- 
mittee of  the  Union  do  not  hold  themselves  responsible  for  any  omis- 
sions or  errors  in  the  statistics.  If  any  injustice  has  been  done,  or 
any  needless  sorrow  inflicted,  it  will  be  deeply  regretted  by  us  all, 
and  by  none  more  than  the  editor. 

"  I  shall  place  your  letter  before  the  committee  at  their  next 
meeting,  and  will  convey  to  you  any  resolution  or  conclusion  they 
may  adopt. 

"  I  remain  yours  faithfully, 

"  Rev.  B.  Grant,  B.A."  "  G.  SMITH. 

That  the  committee  might  not  come  to  any  resolution  based  on 
the  erroneous  ideas  entertained  by  the  colleagues  and  secretaries, 
I  immediately  wrote  in  reply,  as  follows  : — 

"Sheffield,  September  26,  1866. 

My  dear  Sir, — I  hope  the  resolution  of  the  committee,  which  I 
anxiously  wait  for,  will  not  include  any  of  the  exploded  excuses 
which  from  your  kind  mention  of  them  seem  to  be  all  that  can 
be  suggested. 

"  You  •  find  that  Mr.  Ashton  has  only  one  rule  in  relation  to  the 
annual  insertion  of  names  in  the  Year  Book.  He  places  there 
only  those  who  are  returned  to  him.  Mr.  Vaughan's  name  was 
not  so  returned,  and  consequently  it  was  omitted  from  the  printed 
list.'  This  implies  that  the  names  are  annually  added  anew  without 
any  reference  to  the  fact  of  their  appearing  in  the  list  before  :  so 
he  receives  some  2,500  names  yearly  ;  and  if  any  person  fancies  to 
omit  one  name  out  of  this  number  he  makes  no  enquiry,  but  erases 
the  name  from  the  '  list  of  accredited  ministers,'  and  thus  can 
publicly  degrade  any  minister  from  his  professional  standing  ! 

"  A  thing  which  neither  law  nor  decency  would  permit.  In  this 
case  he  carries  out  the  expulsion  perpetrated  privately  by  our 
district  secretary,  who  permits  the  same  name  to  be  retained  on  his 
own  college  committee ! 

"  But  '  he  simply  acts  on  a  rule  which  he  applies  equally  to 
admission  or  omission.'      But  you  know  that  the  rule  does  not 
apply  to  both. 
h  2 


204 

"'Additions  are  made  to  this  list  from  time  to  time  only  as 
ministers  [that  is,  new  ones]  are  accredited  by  the  tutors  of  colleges, 
secretaries  of  associations,'  &c.  Where  is  your  rule  for  omissions? 
The  '  name  not  having  been  sent  is  a  poor  evasion  the  name  was 
there  before,  and  need  not  be  sent'.  If  your  '  committee  does  not 
interfere'  it  ought,  and  is  guilty  of  what  it  permits.  The  reference 
to  the  disavowal  of  responsibility  for  '  omissions  or  errors'  is  out 
of  place,  since  this  was  no  such  omission  but  a  wilful  erasion. 

"  This  '  injustice'  was  not  done  inadvertently,  but  on  purpose. 
It  did  inflict  '  needless  sorrow,'  and  your  editor  did  not  '  regret  it,' 
but  treated  it  with  levity  as  '  the  good  man's'  fate — a  marked  phrase, 
uttered  either  contemptuously  or  insincerely,  and  explainable  on 
no  other  ground. 

"The  committee,  I  think,  will  not  fence  with  so  plain  a  case  ;  if 
they  '  deeply  regret  the  injustice,'  let  them  frankly  say  so,  and 
deliver  the  Union  from  the  suspicion  of  being  an  organized 
tyranny  sustained  by  organized  hypocrisy,  as  this  reference  to 
non-existing  rules  would  make  it  appear. 

"  It  is  better  to  be  plain  in  these  matters  ;  and  I  beg  you  to 
excuse  this  plainness  of  speech,  which  still  permits  me  to  remain 
yours  respectfully,  "BREWIN  GRANT. 

"  The  Rev.  George  Smith,  D.D." 

The  official  reply  from  the  Congregational  Union  committee  to 
my  letter,  as  promised  by  Dr.  Smith,  was  forwarded  with  the 
following  note  : — 

"  My  dear  Sir, — I  placed  our  correspondence  before  the  com- 
mittee of  the  Union  to-day,  and  they  adopted  the  following  resolu- 
tion, requesting  me  to  forward  it  to  you. 

"  I  am,  with  Christian  regards, 

"  Yours  faithfully, 
"  October  2,  1866."  "  G.  SMITH." 

Resolution  : — "  A  correspondence  having  been  read  between 
the  Rev.  Brewin  Grant,  of  Sheffield,  and  the  secretaries 
of  this  Union,  relative  to  the  removal  of  the  name  of  the 
late  Rev.  Isaac  Vaughan  from  the  list  of  accredited 
ministers  in  the  last  Year  Book  ;  this  committee,  assured 
by  Mr.  Ashton  that  he  acted  in  this  case  upon  an  official 
communication  from  the  district  secretary  according  to  the 
invariable  rule,  must  hold  their  editor  blameless  in  this 
matter,  and  feel  confident  that  nothing  was  further  from 
his  intention  than  to  inflict  injury,  or  occasion  painful 
feeling  in  any  quarter." 


205 

This  "resolution"  did  not  remove  the  "injustice;"  it  only 
attempted  to  shift  the  blame  from  "  their  editor  "  to  the  "  district 
secretary."  The  committee  did  not  express  regret  at  "  the  injustice" 
committed  in  its  own  organ,  nor  produce  the  "  official  communica- 
tion," which  could  not  be  "  OFFICIAL  "  unless  the  committee  of 
the  district  authorized  its  transmission,  which  never  happened  ;  and 
when  the  district  secretary  omitted  to  send  the  name  "their  editor" 
should  have  enquired  the  reason,  and  the  minister  himself  who  was 
thus  pained  "without  intention"  should  surely  have  been  com- 
municated with.  Did  Mr.  Ashton  think  "the  good  man  "  had  no 
friends  ? 

The  "  invariable  rule  "  on  which  it  is  pretended  that  the  editor 
acted,  is  simply  taking  cowardly  refuge  in  an  arbitrary  invention. 

To  prepare  for  meeting  the  assembly  in  Sheffield  it  was  necessary 
for  the  committee  to  have  some  public  resolution ;  and  this  was 
provided  for  by  a  correspondence  between  me  and  Dr.  Parker,  of 
Manchester,  who,  asking  me  what  step  I  should  take,  and  what 
resolution  I  could  suggest,  and  at  the  same  time  corresponding  with 
the  secretary  was  at  last  furnished,  as  from  the  committee,  with 
a  resolution,  which  he  had  suggested  and  which  I  had  amended,  and 
which  the  committee  had  adopted  and  requested  him  to  propose  in 
the  Sheffield  meeting. 

Up  to  this  time  Dr.  Parker  had  acted  in  the  closest  co-operation 
with  me ;  but  having  now  been  entrusted  with  a  public  position,  for 
the  expected  autumnal  meetings  in  Sheffield,  he  became  reticent, 
adopted  the  principle,  and  ignored  "  the  case,"  as  indicated  in  the 
following  chapter. 


Chapter  XXLT. 

THE    CONGREGATIONAL    UNION    MEETINGS    IN 

SHEFFIELD,    OCTOBER,    1866: 

SCREENING  OFFICIAL  TYRANNY,  SILENCING  DISCUSSION,  AND  EVADING 
INVESTIGATION    BY   A   PRETENDED  RESOLUTION  OF  ENQUIRY. 

The  Congregational  Union  having  been  involved  by  "  their 
editor"  in  an  act  of  grave  tyranny  towards  a  provincial  minister,  now 
deceased,  by  which  act  all  the  avowed  principles  of  congrega- 
tionalists  are  set  aside,  and  the  committee,  being  reluctantly  forced 
to  enquire  into  the  matter,  in  order  to  make  some  feasible 
—      h  3 


206 

appearance  in  Sheffield,  they  arranged  to  smother  the  deed,  by 
proposing  to  enquire  into  some  new  rules,  instead  of  enquiring  into 
the  violation  of  the  rules  that  did  exist,  and  which  had  been  dis- 
gracefully broken  by  the  illegal  erasure  of  a  minister's  name  from 
the  "  Year  Book,"  which  is  like  striking  a  solicitor's  name  off  the 
rolls,  by  an  arbitrary  act,  without  any  notice  or  enquiry. 

The  plan  of  hiding  the  case,  under  pretence  of  advocating  the 
principle 3  was  adopted  with  care  and  carried  out  with  skill ;  "  The 
Kev.  Dr.  Parker  rose  to  move  a  resolution  in  reference  to  the  Year 
Book.  He  said  the  resolution  had  reference  to  a  particular  part 
of  the  Year  Book" — meaning  the  list  of  accredited  ministers. 
After  a  eulogy  on  the  accuracy  of  the  Book  as  "  most  ably  com- 
piled," he  proceeded : — 

"  The  resolution  which  he  had  to  move  was  that  the  pastors, 

deacons,  and  delegates  then  assembled  most  respectfully 

requested  the  committee  of  the  Union  to  consider  whether 

any  alterations   should    be   made   in    the   terms  on  which 

the  names  of  ministers  were  inserted  in  or  omitted  from  the 

*  Congregational  Year  Book'  and  report  upon  the  same 

at  the  next  annual  meeting." 

"  He  was  in  favour  of  the  most  stringent  conditions  of  insertion 

being  exacted,  and  the  removal  of  a  name  was  a  thing  that  affected 

the  church  most   seriously,  and   assumed   a   grave   aspect.     The 

removal  of  a  name  amounted  to  ministerial  deposition  ;  it  was,  in 

fact,   a   species  of  excommunication,  and  being   fraught  with    the 

gravest  consequences  to  individual  ministers,*  he  thought  the  time  had 

come  when  the  subject  should  be  fully  and  candidly  expounded  and 

decided  upon." 

"  It  was  a  matter  for  the  consideration  of  the  Union."  "Whilst 
they  stood  up  for  the  general  repute  of  the  denomination,  they 
should  be  anxious  in  regarding  the  status  of  the  youngest  and 
obscurest  minister  of  the  Union.  (Hear,  hear.)"  "  He  personally 
had  in  the  matter  which  he  had  brought  before  them  no  cause  of 
complaint  whatsoever,  and  did  not  know  that  there  was  any  case 
that  then  required  particular  scrutiny  and  investigation  ;  and  there- 
fore that  was  a  proper  time  for  a  full  and  candid  discussion." 

Here  I  must  in  charity  suggest  that  the  speaker's  memory  was  at 
fault,  and  perhaps  he  did  not  conclude  his  intended  speech,  in 
which  he  would  have  added,— "At  least  I  know  of  no  case  but  the 

*This  acknowledgment  renders  the  committee  legally  liable  for  the  infliction 
illegally  of  so  grave  an  injury. 


207 

one  that  has  forced  the  committee  into  admitting  this  resolution  of 
enquiry  into  onr  methods  for  the  future,  so  as  to  screen  our  tyranny 
in  the  past." 

This   proposition   for    enquiry  was   moved   professedly  on  the 

GROUND  THAT  THERE  WAS  NO  OCCASION  FOR  IT.       This  I  think  is  what 

they  call  "  judicious,"  and  is  at  least  wonderfully  reserved. 

"  The  Rev.  Dr.  George  Smith  seconded  the  proposition.  It  was 
already  patent  to  the  public  by  the  wide  circulation  of  the  pamphlet 
which  he  held  in  his  hand  ('  Memorial  of  the  Rev.  Isaac  Vaughan'), 
that  a  long  correspondence  had  taken  place  [between  Dr.  Smith, 
Mr.  Ashton,  and  myself]  in  reference  to  the  removal  of  a  name 
from  the  list,  [the  Rev.  Isaac  Vaughan's]  and  when  Dr.  Parker 
sent  to  him  the  terms  of  the  resolution  he  had  just  moved,  it 
appeared  to  him  to  be  a  proper  resolution,  and  he  cheerfully 
seconded  its  adoption.  He  laid  it  before  the  committee  of  the 
Union,  and  they  in  like  manner  accepted  it,  and  desired  him,  as 
secretary,  to  second  it.  The  work  was  a  very  delicate  and  difficult 
one.  No  one  could  imagine  for  a  moment  that  a  name  would  be 
omitted  from  any  pique  or  prejudice,  or  that  Mr.  Ashton  would  be  a 
party  to  the  removal  of  any  gentleman's  name  from  the  list.  (Cheers.) 
He  always  depended  upon  local  intelligence,  and  that  local  in- 
telligence or  authority  ought  perhaps  to  be  held  responsible.  [This 
means  Dr.  Falding.]  He  felt  convinced  that  there  were  sufficient 
reasons  to  thoroughly  vindicate  Mr.  Ashton  in  the  whole  course  of 
his  procedure.  (Hear,  hear.)  He  was  not  sure  that  the  present 
mode  was  faultless,  but  they  ought  all  to  be  jealous  of  the 
honour  and  reputation  of  their  brethren,  and  no  charge  should 
be  made  very  lightly.  [*  No  charge'  is  made  at  all !]  The  committee 
very  cheerfully  accepted  the  resolution  which  Dr.  Parker  had  sub- 
mitted, and  were  prepared  to  give  the-  subject  the  fullest  and 
fairest  consideration." 

Dr.  Smith  and  his  colleagues  never  intended  the  matter  to  be 
heard  of  any  more.  It  was  enough  for  the  present  to  assure  the 
meeting  that  his  colleague  Mr.  Ashton  would  not  "  be  a  party  to 
the  removal  of  any  gentleman's  name  from  the  list."  Though  Dr. 
Smith  knew  that  Mr.  Ashton  had  done  it  to  Mr.  Vaughan,  and  that 
he  himself  had  transmitted  to  me  from  London  the  committee's 
attempted  exoneration  of  then-  "editor,"  by  his  affirmation  that  "he 
acted  in  this  case  on  an  official  document  from  the  district  secre- 
tary," Dr.  Falding,  who,  knowing  this  fact,  that  he  was  accused  of 
this  "  professional  decapitation,"  now  comes  in  to  try  and  throw 

SOME  OF  THE  BLAME  BACK  On  Mr.  ASHTON. 


208 

"  The  Rev.  Dr.  Falding  said  lie  rose  partly  to  snpport  the  reso- 
lution before  the  meeting,  and  partly  to  offer  an  explanation,  which 
he  knew  would  be  expected  [but  never  obtained]  from  him,  and 
which  he  should  most  readily  render.  He  agreed  with  the  resolu- 
tion entirely,  and  was  personally  grateful  to  Dr.  Smith  and  Dr. 
Parker  for  the  terms  in  which  they  had  moved  and  seconded  the 
resolution.  Dr.  Smith  had  referred  to  a  pamphlet  which  had  been 
widely  circulated,  bringing  up  the  case  of  the  removal  of  a  name 
from  the  list  of  accredited  ministers.  He  desired  not  to  refer  to 
that — (hear,  hear) — but  he  thought  he  had  a  right  just  to  say  one 
single  sentence,  and  that  was  that  the  case  had  been  brought  before 
the  public  only  through  one  channel,  and  that  the  other  side  of  the 
case  had  never  been  made  public."  [It  never  will  be.]  "  Dr.  Smith 
had  said  that  perhaps  the  responsibility  should  rest,  not  on  the 
editor,  but  on  the  local  informant — the  person  who  had  supplied 
the  information.  [He  means  the  person  who  suppressed  the  name.] 
He  was  not  sure  that  that  was  quite  right.  He  thought  the  editor 
ought  to  satisfy  himself  that  he  had  information  from  the  right  party, 
and  then  it  became  a  kind  of  divided  authority.  But  that  was  an 
abstract  question  that  he  would  not  meddle  with  further.     As  to 

the  particular  case,  and  as  to  the  part "  he  had  taken,  he  was 

going  to  say,  when  Mr.  Binney,  thinking  he  had  committed  himself 
and  the  editor  far  enough,  got  up  and  gravely  observed — "  that 
there  really  was  no  case  before  them,  and  that  they  ought  to  discuss 
the  resolution  without  reference  to  any  particular  case  ;"  and  Dr. 
Falding  was  "  willing  to  retire  at  that  moment  on  the  assurance 
that  the  particular  case  would  not  be  brought  up."  They  were  all 
concerned  to  conceal  "  the  case"  which  forced  the  resolution  on,  and 
by  which  alone  its  necessity  was  explained.  I  am  told  that  Mr. 
Binney  declared  in  London — objecting  to  the  erasure  in  this  case — 
"  I  myself  may,  on  such  a  plan,  wake  up  some  morning  and  find  my 
name  taken  off  the  Year  Book."  If  he  had  borne  this  testimony  in 
the  meeting  of  the  Union,  it  would  have  looked  more  like  open 
justice.  The  plan  there  was  to  cry  down  any  expression  of  even 
the  opinions  whieh  they  themselves  could  not  help  entertaining. 
Hence  the  following  bear-baiting  exhibition  : — 

"  The  Rev.  Brewin  Grant,  on  presenting  himself,  was  received 
with  hisses  and  cries  of  '  Vote.'  "  This  was  an  intelligent  and  grace- 
ful display  of  Congregational  freedom.  After  some  hubbub,  Mr. 
Grant  said  he  was  there  "to  defend  the  dead  and  to  protect  the 
living."  One  Mr.  Morgan,  of  Masbro',  a  fierce  partizan,  here 
"  rose  to  order,"  and  another  "  rose  to  order  ;"  since  all  that  v>as 
needed  was  a  little  more  disorder  to  prevent  free  speech. 


209 

The  Rev.  J.  Parsons,  following  the  official  cry,  observed  that  ii 
"  was  most  inadvisable  to  introduce  any  particular  case  into  the 
discussion." 

Then  the  Chairman  echoed,  that  "  the  resolution  had  nothing  to 
do  with  a  particular  case,"  as  if  that  case  did  not  originate  the 
resolution  and  come  fairly  under  it  ! 

The  chairman,  the  Rev.  Newman  Hall,  "objected  to  the  intro- 
duction, especially  without  warning,  of  any  particular  case."  He 
knew  it  was  not  "  without  warning."  He  had  said  in  reply  to  my 
question,  that  "  amendments"  were  admissible,  and  he  had  my 
printed  "proposed  resolution"  on  the  table;  and  all  had  seen 
it  for  it  was  distributed  through  the  meeting.  He  "  ruled 
against  particular  cases,"  which  he  knew  composed  general  princi- 
ples ;  and  then  he  put  to  the  meeting — "Will  you  allow  the 
introduction  of  any  individual  matter  or  not  ?"  He  knew  that 
this  was  a  false  putting  of  the  case  ;  it  was  a  matter  of  public 
justice,  and  every  minister  in  the  meeting  was  concerned  in  it. 

After  much  confusion,  and  many  liberal  "Xoes,"  which  treated 
me  to  more  thunder  than  lightning,  I  was  enabled  to  reach  this 
point  :  "  The  question  was,  the  insertion  and  omission  of  names  in 
the  Year  Book ;  and  that  the  matter  be  referred  to  a  committee  of 
enquiry.  I  asked — why  was  this  proposed  '?  I  wished  that  to  be 
known.  They  had  introduced  it  on  the  ground  of  a  case,  which 
they  were  afraid  and  ashamed  of  going  into." 

This  was  enough  for  me,  and  too  much  for  them  :  the  exhibition 
of  calmness  and  free  deliberate  enquiry  was  rather  startling. 

The  chairman,  as  a  true  partizan,  observed  to  the  meeting  that 
"the  last  remark  was  on  worthy  of  notice,"  which  gave  great  delight 
to  those  who  did  not  know  that  it  was  as  silly  as  it  was  rude,  since 
he  was  doing  what  he  properly  intimated  need  not  be  done  ;  and  he 
received  this  answer — "Then  what  did  you  notice  it  for?"  They 
had  now,  as  they  vainly  dreamed,  smothered  "the  particular  case." 

"But  in  these  cases  we  still  have  judgment  here,"  as  poor 
Macbeth  said:— 

"The  times  have  been, 
That  -when  the  brains  were  out  the  man  would  die, 
And  there  an  end;  but  now,  they  rise  again 
With  twenty  mortal  murders  on  their  crown, 
And  push  us  from  our  stools." 

Banquo's  ghost  disturbs  Macbeth's  feast.  The  committee  before 
coming  down  to  Sheffield  was  haunted,  and  fear  of  the  ghost  drove 
them  into  this  resolution,  in  which  they  expected,  without  repen- 


210 

tance  or  confession  as  to  the  past,  to  cover  crying  tyranny  by  a  new 
rule  for  the  future ;  or  rather,  by  forming  a  committee  of  enquiry 

COMPOSED  OF  THE  COMMITTEE  THAT  IS  IMPLICATED,  wllOSe  policy  WOUld 

be  to  hush  up  their  crime. 

The  suggestion,  not  to  say  pretence,  of  those  who  sought  to 
influence  the  meeting  not  to  hear  "the  case"  was,  that  something 
unpleasant  might  come  out ;  as  if  the  proposal  was  to  enquire  into 
the  character  of  the  deceased.  Those  who  suggested  this  were 
either  very  dull  or  very  dishonest.  They  either  knew  or  ought  to 
have  known,  for  it  had  been  put  plainly  before  them,  in  their 
committee  in  London,  and  in  every  other  way,  that  the  question 
was  independent  of  the  character  of  the  deceased,  and  was 
confined  to  the  legality  of  the  treatment  which  he  received ; 
and  therefore,  if  anybody  had  come  forward  to  accuse  him  of  stand- 
ing on  his  head  on  the  pinnacle  of  Eotherham  church  steeple — 
which  was  as  true  as  most  things  that  were  said — the  answer  would 
be  : — all  this  is  foreign — the  case  is  not  that  of  Mr.  Vaughan,  but 
an  enquiry  into  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Ashton  and  Dr.  Falding. 
The  question  was — did  they  illegally  erase  this  name  ?  They 
know  they  did  —  the  committee  knew  they  did  —  the  whole 
assembly  knew  they  did.  But  they  were  all  too  delicate  and 
faithful  to  acknowledge  it. 

Some  said  they  had  not  time  to  understand  the  case ;  as  if  it 
would  take  them  long  to  understand  this — ought  a  man  to  be  hanged 
before  he  is  tried  ?  May  a  minister's  name  be  erased  from  the 
Year  Book  at  the  mutual  or  divided  fancy  of  a  district  secretary  and 
the  editor  of  the  "  Year  Book,"  without  any  intimation  being  given 
to  him,  or  any  chance  of  protecting  himself  from  this  extreme 
of  indignity? 

If  the  ministers  there  could  not  answer  "  no,"  in  one  word, 
instead  of  crying  down  the  only  one  that  protected  their  interests, 
they  deserve  all  they  get.  I  have  no  doubt  that  when  they  come  to 
consider  they  will  be  heartily  ashamed,  and  will  divide  the  blame 
with  the  leaders  who  so  often  "  rose  to  order,"  and  who  misled  the 
meeting  by  courteous  interruptons  to  suggest  that  "  the  particular 
case"  which  they  knew  would  disgrace  their  officials  should  be 
withdrawn,  and  the  resolution  be  passed  without  any  reference  to 
the  cruelty  and  tyranny  which  forced  on  this  tardy  and  theoretical, 
not  to  say  hypocritical,  acknowledgment  of  abstract  justice,  to  avoid 
the  odium  of  a  particular  case. 

By  crying  down  the  proposed  resolution,  which  was  circulated 
through  the  meeting  the  ministers  and  delegates  present  stultified 


211 

themselves,  by  in  effect  contradicting  the  self-evident  propositions 
which  it  contains.     The  following  is  what  they  thus  negatived : — 
"  Proposed  Resolution  on  '  The  Year  Book.' 

"  That  the  omission  of  the  name  of  the  late  Rev.  Isaac  Vaughan 
from  the  list  of  '  accredited  ministers '  in  the  last  '  Congregational 
Year  Book '  without  any  notice  or  trial,  or  any  intimation  to 
Mr.  Vaughan  before  or  after  the  omission,  was  an  injustice  and 
grief  to  Mr.  Vaughan,  is  a  threatening  danger  to  every  congrega- 
tional minister,  is  a  violation  of  our  principles,  and  should  be  dis- 
avowed by  this  meeting  to  save  the  denomination  from  disgrace." 

But  the  meeting  voted  that  it  is  not  "  a  violation  of  our  prin- 
ciples,9' not  "  an  injustice,"  not  "  a  threatening  danger  to  all 
ministers,"  not  "a  course  to  be  disavowed,"  but  a  right  thing, 
to  depose  a  minister  without  notice  or  trial !  They  abjured  their 
rights,  and  signed  articles  of  slavery. 

If  any  still  quibble,  and  say  that  the  question  of  "injustice" 
would  turn  upon  the  character  of  the  deceased,  then  they  still 
assume  that  it  is  just  to  execute  a  man  without  trial,  to  which  every 
prisoner  has  a  claim,  whether  guilty  or  not.  In  this  "  particular 
case"  a  local  seceetary,  [the  Rev.  Dr.  Falding]  belonging  to  an 
opposite  faction,  and  having  taken  an  active  part,  speaking  in 
church  meetings,  and  signing  a  memorial  against  a  minister,  is  the 
authority  to  send  an  "  official  document,"  omitting  the  name,  on 
his  own  private  account,  being  directed  to  do  so  by  no  committee ; 
and  on  this  "official  document"  from  Dr.  Falding  Mr.  Ashton 
says  he  acted,  no  enquiry  being  made  of  Mr.  Vaughan  and  his 
friends !  All  this  the  committee  of  the  Union  knew,  and,  with  the 
exception  of  the  Rev.  James  Parsons,  every  man  who  helped  to 
induce  the  Assembly  to  suppress  "the  case"  knew;  so  they  in 
principle  repeated,  in  the  eyes  of  God  and  man,  an  act  of  odious 
private  tyranny  and  disgraced  Independency. 

Mr.  Robert  Leader,  the  editor  of  the  Sheffield  Independent,  and 
now  a  consistent  "  country  member  "  of  the  "  rattening"  committee 
of  the  Congregational  Union,  put  out  flaring  placards  of  his  Satur- 
day's paper,  with  this  leading  announcement :—  - 

"  Brewin  Grant  Extinguished." 

This  was  to  get  off  his  supplemental  account  of  the  Union 
meetings.  It  is  like  the  whole  affair.  It  shows  what  these  men 
will  stoop  to.  He  was  hard  up  for  a  "sensation."  Perhaps  this 
little  trick  was  suggested  to  him  by  the  leaders  of  the  Union  who 
assembled  at  his  house,  and  made  his  shop  their  centre.  It  might 
be  good  news  to  some  that  the  Rev.  Brewin   Grant  is  "  extin- 


212 

guished,"  but  it  is  bad  taste  to  confess  it,  and  only  parades  the 
editor's  disappointment  in  this  "particular  case."  If  he  had 
announced  "  The  Rev.  Brewin  Grant  answered"  all  Sheffield 
would  have  flocked  to  his  office  to  get  the  paper  in  which  he  even 
promises  what  he  has  never  yet  performed.  Surely  it  is  enough 
that  one  victim  of  Congregational  tyranny  is  removed  to  a  ''better 
home  ; "  but  those  who  helped  to  crush  his  noble  spirit  and  pain 
his  generous  soul,  as  well  as  those  who  now  abet  that  wickedness, 
must  not  be  impatient  with  Providence  that  permits  at  least  one 
Independent  friend  to  shield  his  memory,  shame  his  persecutors, 
and  drag  into  the  light  of  public  criticism  those  official  instruments 
of  professional  decapitation. 

Trades  Unions  are  accused  of  tyranny,  in  blowing  up  houses,  or 
getting  wheelbands  stolen,  and  refractory  members  shot  or  other- 
wise disabled.  Mr.  Newman  Hall,  chairman  of  the  Congrega- 
tional Union,  whose  officials,  together  with  another  official  acting 
unofficially,  took  Mr.  Vaughan's  bands  off  the  Union  Wheel,  and 
blew  up  his  professional  office  while  he  was  asleep,  goes  and 
lectures  Sheffield  working  men  about  tyranny  over  one  another. 

The  Congregational  Union,  knowing  its  official  implication  in 
the  same  crime,  justified  the  act,  and  reserved  all  its  anger  for  the 
man  who  detected  and  exposed  it,  standing  bravely  up  for  a 
deceased  friend,  and  seeking  to  defend  the  living  from  similar 
tyranny  !     I  observed  at  the  time  that  I  had  been  in  at  least  eight 

HUNDRED     OF     THE    ROUGHEST     MEETINGS    OF    WORKING    MEN,     infidels 

and  otherwise,  and  I  never  allowed  any  man  to  be  cried  down,  what- 
ever he  might  say,  and  I  never  was  cried  down  myself  but  once, 
and  that  by  some  Canterbury  roughs,  who  had  been  inspired  for 
the  occasion  at  an  adjoining  public-house.  The  only  other  time 
was  by  the  Congregational  Union,  inspired  from  another  source. 

This  insolence  and  the  tyranny  which  it  was  perpetrated  to 
screen  have  been  tamely  submitted  to  by  the  whole  denomination  ; 
nor  can  I  blame  ordinary  ministers  for  silent  submission  when  it 
would  be  ruin  to  speak. 

How  the  committee  intended  to  carry  out  the  resolution  of  the 
Assembly,  to  enquire  and  report  to  the  next  meeting  of  the  Union, 
as  to  the  best  methods  of  admitting  and  omitting  the  names  of 
ministers,  creating  and  decapitating  them,  will  be  seen  in  the 
following  chapter. 


213 

Chapter  XXHI. 

THE  COMMITTEE  ASSUMES  ABSOLUTE  DICTATORSHIP 

OYER    THE    UNION    AND    THE    DENOMINATION: 

BY  LEGISLATING  INSTEAD  OF  REPORTING, 

The  Manchester  Meetings,  October,  1867. 

The  committee  of  the  Congregational  Union,  having  by  Dr. 
Smith,  its  "  mouth,  matter  and  wisdom,"  "  cheerfully  accepted" 
a  resolution  which  it  meant  to  shelve,  by  way  of  giving  "the  sub- 
ject the  fullest  and  fairest  investigation,"  proceeded  surreptitiously 
to  frame  a  new  law  to  legalize  their  old  tyranny. 

No  man  who  ever  expects  to  get  promoted,  or  to  have  his  like- 
ness in  the  Evangelical  Magazine,  or  to  read  a  paper  to  the  As- 
sembly, or  to  be  a  deputation,  or  to  become  chairman  of  the 
Union — the  acme  of  honour,  as  all  the  introductions  to  the  addresses 
adulatingly  confess — would  venture  to  oppose  the  violation  of  our 
principles,  the  injury  of  any  brother,  or  any  kind  of  wrong  in  the 
opinion  or  actions  of  the  "  wire-pullers"  of  "the  body."  Honesty 
is  about  the  worst  policy  I  know  of,  as  Balak  told  Balaam  long  ago. 
(Numbers  xxiv.  11.) 

It  was  October,  1866,  when  the  pastors,  deacons,  and  delegates 
then  assembled  "most  respectfully  requested  the  committee  of  the 
Union  to  consider  whether  any  alteration  should  be  made  in  the 
terms  on  which  the  names  of  ministers  were  inserted  in  or  omitted 
from  the  '  Congregational  Year  Book'  and  report  upon  the  same 
at  the  next  annual  meeting." 

This  "  next  annual  meeting"  was  in  London,  May,  1867  ;  and 
though  "  the  committee  very  cheerfully  accepted  the  resolution," 
and  as  Dr.  Smith,  its  secretary,  said,  were  "  prepared  to  give  the 
subject  its  fullest  and  fairest  consideration,"  they  gave  it  the  go- 
by instead,  and  insulted  the  Union,  with  its  "pastors,  deacons, 
and  delegates,"  by  making  and  printing  a  new  law,  before  the 
assembly  met  agatn,  as  justly  thinking  that  those  men  were  un- 
worthy of  being  considered  and  consulted  who  had  in  so  abject  a 
style  "  most  respectfully  requested"  their  own  committee  to  re-con- 
sider for  their  guidance  those  laws  which  they  knew  their  com- 
mittee had  grievously  violated. 

The  new  law,  illegally  made,  was  never  mentioned  to  the  London 
meeting  to  which  the  committee  was  pledged  to  "  report,"  and 
without  whose  authority  it  could  no  more  make  rules  for  the  Union 
or  denomination  than  for  the  kingdom. 


214 

I  determined  therefore  to  attend  the  autumnal  meeting  of  the 
same  year,  which  was  to  be  held  in  Manchester,  and  accordingly 
obtained  my  delegate  ticket,  and  went  there,  with  a  series  of  packets 
of  pamphlets  for  distribution  among  the  "  pastors,  deacons  and 
delegates ;  "  especially  a  letter  addressed  to  the  members  of  the 
Congregational  Union,  some  thousand  of  which  besides  other 
pamphlets  were  distributed  at  the  different  meetings. 

The  following  is  the  substance  of  my  letter : — 

CONGREGATIONAL    UNIONISM    TESTED. 

"  The  honour  and  integrity  of  British  Congregationalism  are  on  their  trial." 

The  Eev.  J.  Parker,  D.D. 

"  TO    THE    MEMBERS    OP    THE    CONGREGATIONAL    UNION." 

tl  Dear  Friends,- — The  special  mission  of  Congregationalism  for 
which  it  is  deservedly  prized  is, — first,  to  afford  an  asylum  for 
Christian  liberty,  in  its  freest  exercise,  in  opposition  to  tyranny,  or 
<  lording  it  over  God's  heritage.'  The  second  distinguishing  feature 
is  to  secure  the  living  guardianship  of  evangelical  Christianity. 
The  Rev.  Samuel  Martin  observed  in  his  opening  address  at  the 
annual  meeting  of  1862,  that  '  our  chief  care,  next  to  the  soundness 
of  our  belief,  must  be  to  work  out  our  church  principles.'' 

"  First  let  us  enquire  how  far  we  carry  out  our  own  professed 
principles  in  relation  to  liberty  and  justice.  We  have  no  Synod, 
Conference,  or  Pope ;  but  we  have  district  secretaries,  and  a 
metropolitan  editor  of  'the  Congregational  Year  Book,' to  whom 
most  extraordinary  powers  are  entrusted,  or  at  least  who  are  per- 
mitted to  act  as  absolute  dictators  over  their  '  Independent ' 
brethren.  A  proposal  was  carried  in  the  meeting  at  Sheffield,  held 
in  October,  1866,  by  which  it  was  confidently  expected  that  this 
yoke  would  be  taken  off  the  necks  of  congregational  ministers.  It 
was  acknowledged  that  the  yoke  was  "  intolerable,"  and  that  some 
better  defence  of  our  ministerial  standing  ought  to  be  provided  than 
the  mere  dictum  of  any  official. 

Here  followed  Dr.  Parker's  letter,  given  in  the  preceding  chapter. 

"We  have  already  seen  this  question  of  ministerial  existence 
referred  to  and  shelved  by  the  committee  of  the  Congregational 
Union.  The  pastors  and  delegates  did,  it  is  true,  '  most  respect- 
fully request  the  committee  to  consider  whether  any  alteration 
should  be  made  in  the  terms  upon  which  the  names  of  ministers 
are  inserted  in,  or  omitted  from,  the  Congregational  Year  Book, 


215 

and  to  eepoet  upon  the  same  at  the  annual  meeting  in  May  next.' 
They  did  not  propose  to  enquire  whether  the  rules  had  been  noto- 
riously and  scandalously  violated,  and  teems  of  omission  capbi- 
ciously  invented  by  their  editor.  This  fact  was  carefully  endea- 
voured to  be  concealed.  '  The  Particular  Case  '  which  brought  on 
the  enquiry  has  since  been  acknowledged  to  be  a  grievous  injustice, 
as  the  minister  whose  existence  and  work  were  ignored  while  he 
was  living,  obtains  a  place  in  the  '  notice  of  ministers  deceased,'  and 
the  church  which  he  was  building  figures  now  in  '  the  Year  Book,' 
while  some  who  ignored  his  case  in  the  Union  took  part  in  the 
opening  of  his  church,  and  thus  endorsed  his  work,  and  the  course 
which  his  friends  adopted  in  rallying  round  him  while  the  union 
officials  excommunicated  him — to  '  recognise  '  him  after  his  death  ! 

"  This  case  is  not  to  be  set  aside  as  merely  personal,  and  related 
only  to  the  deceased,  it  is  the  testing  instance  as  to  the  pbinci- 
ples  on  which  the  Congregational  Union  acts,  and  under  which 
our  ministry  is  degraded,  if  not  enslaved. 

"  The  committee,  though  '  most  respectfully  requested,'  gave  no 
*  report'  on  the  matter  to  the  meeting  in  May  of  this  year,  but 
foisted  an  impoetant  alteeation  into  the  '  special  notice'  placed 
before  the  '  alphabetical  fist  of  Congregational  or  Independent 
ministers.' 

"  On  page  202,  '  Congregational  Year  Book,  1867,'  is  printed  as 
follows : — 

"  '  SPECIAL  NOTICE. 

"  'Ministers  are  added  to  this  list,  oe  omitted  feom  it,  on  the 
testimony  and  authority  of  tutoes  of  colleges  ;  secretaries  ot 
county,  district,  or  local  associations ;  three  ministers,  members  of 
an  adjoining  association,  when  no  association  exists  in  the  county ; 
or  of  five  members  of  the  congregational  board,  when  the  minister 
resides  within  the  postal  district  of  the  Metropolis.' 

"  The  indicated  interpolation,  '  oe  omitted  feom,'  had  not 
been  foisted  in  when  '  The  Particular  Case'  was  perpetrated :  no 
such  rule  existed :  it  was  simply  editoe-made  law,  on  which  the 
committee  was  to  enquire  and  report — it  was  not  at  that  time  a 
written  law ;  it  is  now  invented  and  printed  in  your  '  Year  Book !' 

"  I  enquired  of  the  editor,  July,  1866,  on  what  grounds  a  certain 
name  had  been  erased,  and  by  whose  arrangement  the  omission  was 
made.  I  knew  the  rules  for  adding  names,  but  wished  to  learn  the 
process  of  eemovtng  them. 

"  To  this  enquiry  he  replied — '  The  authority  applies  equally  to 
admission  oe  omission.'     That  is,  as  the  names  are  '  added  to'  our 


216 

list  by  the  recommendation  of  a  college  tutor,  or  a  district  secretary, 
or  neighbouring  ministers,  so  any  college  tutor,  district  secretary, 
&c,  may  of  his  own  mere  motion  direct  the  editor  to  erase  any  name 
from  the  list  of  Congregational  ministers  !  The  thing  is  incredible 
and  monstrous.  Nor  did  he  tell  me  where  the  rule  was  to  he  found. 
"  He  could  not  find  the  rule  then,  but  he  or  some  one  else  has 
made  it  since.  So  that  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  if  the  editor 
exceeded  the  law  before,  he  has  got  the  law  so  altered  that  no 
similar  abitrary  excommunication  can  be  regarded  as  illegal  in  the 
future.  This  is  a  new  style  of  taking  the  law  into  one's  own 
hands.  This  will  surely  try  the  faith  and  patience  of  '  Independent' 
ministers. 

"  The  second  excellency  of  Congregationalism  is,  that  it  tends  to 
fulfil  the  function  of  the  church — '  the  pillar  and  the  ground  of 
truth' — as  the  living  shrine  and  guardian  of  evangelical  Christianity. 
Is  it  true,  then,  that  a  Professor  in  one  of  our  chief  colleges,-  u*ho 
was  deposed  from  an  influential  chair,  under  the  suspicion — to  say 
the  least — of  omitting  every  distinguishing  doctrine  of  the  gospel, 
has  since  then,  but  lately,  been  quietly  re-installed  ?  Has  this  been 
permitted  because  Dr.  Campbell,  with  his  Standard,  is  no  more 
amongst  us,  so  that  the  criticisms  which  appeared  in  that  paper, 
and  were  never  answered,  could  not  be  repeated  in  a  public  organ 
that  would  reach  the  subscribers  ? 

It  would  take  up  too  much  space  to  give  the  history  of  the  contro- 
versy, which  led  first  to  a  meeting  of  the  College  Council,  wherein 
the  professor's  "  Christian  Faith"  was  endorsed  and  his  position 
was  confirmed ;  and  secondly  to  a  meeting  of  the  same,  in  which  his 
teaching  on  "  main  proof  texts"  was  condemned,  but  his  general 
soundness  affirmed,  while  his  resignation  of  the  Greek  New  Testa- 
ment chair  was  reluctlantly  accepted,  because  the  subscribers  had 
been  alarmed. 

"A  series  of  papers  appeared  in  the  British  Standard,  carefully 
analyzing  the  professor's  lectures  on  "  Christian  Faith."  These 
were  collected  into  a  pamphlet  called  "  The  Rescue  of  Faith,"  and 
circulated  by  book  post  among  the  subscribers  to  the  college. 

"  The  bitterest  critics  of  '  The  Rescue  of  Faith,'  the  Patriot,  the 
Nonconformist,  and  the  Christian  Spectator,  were  obliged  to  condemn 
the  professor's  theology ;  while  the  Baptist  Magazine,  the  United 
Presbyterian  Magazine,  the  Record,  the  Freeman,  and  the  Eclectic 
distinctly,  and  some  of  them  at  large,  condemned  the  professor's 
teaching  as  subversive  of  the  gospel. 

•  This  refers  to  Professor  Godwin,  at  New  College. 


217 

"The  friends  of  the  professor,  abandoning  all  defence  of  his  heresies, 
turned  the  full  power  of  their  denunciation  on  the  writer  who  had 
most  elaborately  confuted  this  insidious  and  dangerous  Neology. 
1  On  his  arguments  and  analysis,'  said  one  representative  organ, 
4  we  cannot  spend  a  line  ;'  so  some  of  the  choicest  '  liberal '  in- 
solence was  poured  on  his  devoted  head,  though  not  one  of  his 
positions  was  even  controverted. 

"  Only  a  few  copies  of  '  The  Rescue  of  Faith"  are  left,  but  the 
subsequent  pamphlets,  giving  a  history  of  the  controversy,  with  rare 
specimens  of  the  "  press  in  relation  to  our  denomination,"  may  be 
had  for  stamps  covering  the  postage. 

"  Arrangements  will  be  made,  if  possible,  to  provide  any  of  the 
ministers  and  delegates  with  copies  of  these  at  the  Free  Trade  Hall, 
and  of  '  The  Memorial '  and  '  Particular  Case,'  which  show  wherein 
we  do  not  '  carry  out  our  church  principles,'  and  how  we  may  do  so. 

"We  nullify  our  testimony  by  our  inconsistency ;  nor  shall  we  be 
able  to  open  our  mouth  -with  power  till  we  wash  our  hands  in 
innocency.  It  is  affirmed,  and  not  without  good  grounds,  that  such 
acts  of  tyranny  occur  amongst  us  as  could  exist  in  no  other 
denomination,  and  a  wokse  form  of  rationalism  is  silently  per- 
mitted in  our  high  places  than  is  to  be  found  in  Colensoism. 
Thus  we  are  liable  to  be  spectacles  to  angels  and  to  men,  one 
laughing  at  us,  and  the  other  weeping  over  us,  for  openly  perpetrat- 
ing the  tyranny  which  we  protest  against,  and  quietly  fostering  the 
rationalism  that  we  scream  at. 

"Our  excuse  for  not  discussing  the  errors  of  opinion  and  of  practice 
that  creep  in  amongst  ourselves  is,  that  ■  the  Union  is  not  a  court 
of  appeal,'  as  if  the  same  should  not  equally  prevent  discussing 
''Ritualism'  or  '  Rationalism,'  for  we  are  'not  a  court  of  appeal'  on 
these  matters,  or  on  any  other ;  though  we  are  more  concerned  in  the 
'  Rationalism'  of  Godwin  than  of  Colenso,  and  therefore  avoid 
referring  to  it.  We  invent  some  show  of  reason  for  unfaithfulness, 
as  if  we  were  tender  of  liberty,  which  we  betray  in  '  the  Particular 
Case'  and  all  cases  like  it ;  as  we  betray  the  truth  in  another  Case, 
and  so  fail  in  both  ends  of  Congregationalism. 

"  Our  zealous  regard  for  freedom,  in  not  being  '  a  court  of  appeal' 
on  points  wherein  our  own  loyalty  to  our  principles  is  concerned, 
reminds  me  of  a  saying  in  Livy : — Semper  aliquam  fraudi  speciem 
juris  imponitis.     We  put  some  face  of  right  on  our  violation  of  it. 

"  Our  allowing  Christ  to  be  discrowned  amongst  us,  while  we 
are  officious  in  testimony  and  loyalty  to  the  truth,  so  far  as  other 
denominations  are  concerned,  exposes  us  to  this  rebuke  from  them 


218 

— Hsec  ludibria  religionum  non  pudet  in  lucem  proferre  ?  For  what 
is  it  but  a  mockery  to  be  so  earnest  for  a  purity  which  we  do  not 
try  to  secure  at  home  ? 

"If  we  could  but  give  up  talking  about  '  Ritualism,'  which  is 
a  foreign  disease,  and  at  least  spend  our  time  on  what  relates  to  our 
own  efficiency  and  purity,  we  should  be  better  prepared  for  a  foreign 
campaign.  Similar  remonstrances  induced  some  attention  to  points 
nearer  home,  in  the  Rev.  Newwan  Hall's  presidential  address  at 
Sheffield;  but  which,  while  claiming  "greater  facilities  for  discus- 
sion," was  abundantly  compensated  for  by  his  subsequent  arbitrary 
suppression  of  free  speech  on  a  case  that  had  occasioned  the  reso- 
lution then  before  the  meeting.  Besides  this  confession  that  he  did 
not  really  mean  to  encourage  the  freedom  which  he  advocated,  we  were 
refreshed  not  only  with  a  book  on  '  Ritualism,'  but  with  a  preliminary 
survey  by  Mr.  Newman  Hall,  of  the  same  ground,  as  we  '  watched 
the  setting  sun  from  a  lofty  peak  in  Switzerland,'  and  let  our 
'  thoughts  travel  far  away  to  another  scene,"  "  up  the  glen,  along 
the  torrent's  brink,"  to  see  a  "  bare-legged  urchin  carry  home  a  can 
of  newly  drawn  milk."  This  milk  for  babes  led  on  naturally  to 
1  the  exclusive  claims  on  the  part  of  an  influential  sectiun  of  our 
fellow- Christians,'  and  we  were  elaborately  instructed  not  to 
swallow  sacerdotal  sacramentarianism  and  apostolical  succession — 
points  which  are  more  appropriate  to  some  '  Pan-Anglican  Synod* 
than  to  the  business  of  the  Congregational  Union,  if  it  have  any. 

No  denomination  could  with  greater  vigour  rise,  phoenix-like,  from 
the  ashes  of  past  trials  and  sloth,  than  our  own  :  all  that  is  required 
is,  that  we  exercise  a  manly  freedom,  and  honestly  consider  our  own 
ways,  reduce  our  own  principles  to  practice,  and  no  longer  consider 
those  our  greatest  enemies  who  tell  us  salutary  truths,  however  un- 
welcome :  but  if  we  must  regard  them  as  enemies  let  us  at  least 
remember — Fas  est,  ab  hoste  doceri. 

"  The  Preface  to  the  '  Year  Rook,  1867,'  groans  over  the  fact 
that  in  the  Church  of  England  '  Evangelical  truth  and  spiritual 
worship  are  greatly  imperilled.'  Among  the  '  objects'  aimed  at  by 
the  Congregational  Union,  the  first  is  asserted  to  be  '  to  promote 
evangelical  religion  in  connection  with  the  Congregational  de- 
nomination,' yet  no  reference  would  be  permitted  in  the  Union 
meetings  to  any  actual  case  of  danger  to  that  truth  amongst  us. 

"  Instead  of  being  distinguished  for  truth  and  liberty,  we  have 
heresy  enthroned  in  our  chief  college,  and  tyranny  enshrined  in 
a  '  special  notice  '  at  the  head  of  the  '  list  of  Independent  minis- 
ters,' as  follows: — 'Ministers  are  added  to  this  list,  or  omitted 


219 

from  it,  on  the  testimony  and  authority  (!)  of  tutors  of  colleges, 
secretaries  of  county,  district,  or  local  associations,  &c.'  This  is 
the  new  rule  of  omission  invented  for  us  by  those  who  in  1866 
1  excommunicate'  and  in  1867  '  beatify'  the  same  saint ! 

"  '  There  was  no  such  deed  done  nor  seen  from  the  day  that  the 
children  of  Israel  came  up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt  unto  this  day. 
Consider  of  it,  take  advtce,  and  speak  your  minds ! '  (Judges 
xix.  30.)  Yours  faithfully, 

"BBEWIN  GRANT." 

This  surreptitious  legalising  of  tyranny  -was  one  of  the  things  which  I  went  to 
Manchester  to  expose.  I  had  two  ways  of  working — one  to  enlighten  the  brethren 
by  the  distribution  of  the  letter,  "  Congregational  Unionism  Tested,"  and  the 
other,  to  get  through  the  cordon  of  officials  on  the  platform,  if  possible  ;  for  in 
our  free  Union  every  scheme  is  adopted  to  prevent  the  ventilation  of  any  subject 
on  which  the  managers  frown.  Besides  that  all  is  done  up  in  red  tape  in  London, 
a  committee  of  reference  is  appointed  at  the  meetings  to  consider  what  other 
subjects  should  be  allowed  to  be  introduced,  or,  in  effect,  to  mind  that  nothing 
else  shall  be  introduced,  especially  from  any  suspected  quarter. 

Now,  to  obviate  all  objections  as  to  the  irregularity  of  introducing  the  enquiries 
which  I  wished  to  bring  before  the  meeting,  I  addressed  a  letter  through  the 
chairman  to  the  committee  of  reference,  at  eleven  o'clock  on  Thursday  morning. 
They  were  questions  which  could  be  asked  and  answered  in  two  minutes  ;  espe- 
cially as,  according  to  the  subsequent  assertions  of  the  secretary  of  the  Union 
and  the  editor  of  '  The  Tear  Book,'  they  had  a  plain,  short,  and  sufficient 
(though  false)  answer  to  each  question,  and  should  have  been  glad  to  give  the 
answers  in  order  to  remove  a  painful  and  widely-spread  suspicion.  The  desperate 
attempt  to  fence  off  questions  which  they  were  so  ready  to  answer,  throws  further 
suspicion  on  the  whole  of  their  proceedings. 
The  following  is  the  letter : — 

"  To  the  committee  of  reference  in  connection  with  the  Congregational  Union 
meetings  — 

"  Gentlemen, — I  beg  respectfully  to  inquire  of  you  whether  permission  will  be 
granted  for  asking  this  morning — without  any  discussion — the  two  following 
questions: — Namely, first,  as  the  pastors  and  delegates  of  the  Congregational 
Union  assembled  in  October,  1866,  'most  respectfully  requested  the  committee  to 
consider  whether  any  alteration  should  be  made  in  the  terms  open  which  the 
names  of  ministers  are  inserted  in,  or  omitted  from,  the  Congregational  Year 
Book,  and  to  report  upon  the  same  at  the  annual  meeting  in  May  nest,'  it  is 
requested  on  this  point  to  know  ichether  such  report  has  been  made,  and  if  not, 
when  it  may  be  expected  ?  Secondly,  by  whose  arrangement — before  any  report 
could  have  been  laid  before  the  next  ensuing  annual  meeting — an  important 
addition  was  made  to  '  the  special  notice,'  giving  what  was  not  in  the  Year  Book 
before,  namelv,  '  authority '  to  '  tutors  of  colleges,  secretaries  of  county  or 
district  associations,  &c.,'  not  only  to  add  'ministers  to  this  list'  of  accredited, 
but  to  omit  from  it  any  minister  ? 

"  If  this  second  question  cannot  be  answered  now,  when  xcill  an  answer  be 
given  ?— and  may  the  information  here  sought  be  published  in  the  Year  Book, 
for  the  satisfaction  of  those  concerned  in  these  matters. 


220 

n  The  questions  above  mentioned  may  be  read  either  by  the  chairman  or  by 
the  present  applicant,  who  is  prevented  attending  this  morning's  meeting  before 
twelve  o'clock,  at  which  time  he  will  come  into  the  committee  room  for  the  answer 
to  this  application. 

"  I  remain,  Gentlemen,  very  respectfully  yours, 

"BREWIN  GRANT. 
"  Thursday  morning,  Oct.  10,  1867." 

When  I  went  into  the  vestry  at  twelve  no  committee  could  be  found.  Two  of 
the  members  were  on  the  platform,  one  was  close  by,  and  a  quorum  could  have 
been  called ;  but  the  point  was  to  shut  out  the  questions. 

After  waiting  some  time  in  the  meeting  I  sent  a  pencil  note  up 
to  the  chairman,  Dr.  Campbell,  of  Bradford — (not  the  celebrated 
Dr.  Campbell,  of  London) — and  received  the  following  note  in 
reply,  the  original  of  which  literally  lies  before  me : — "  The  Refe- 
rence Committee  had  no  opportunity  of  meeting  to-day,  its  functions 
being  exercised  principally  on  the  first  day  of  the  Assembly's  sit- 
ting. The  Chairman"  This  makes  "  the  Committee  of  Reference" 
a  mockery  :  the  pretence  first,  is,  that  members  of  the  Union  may 
have  an  opportunity  of  introducing  questions  not  provided  for  by 
the  London  committee,  but  which  questions  may  be  submitted  pre- 
liminarily to  certain  gentlemen  selected  to  sit  during  the  meetings. 
The  programme  had  arranged  for  "  Miscellaneous  resolutions  "  for 
that  "  Thursday  morning,"  and  at  this  stage  such  a  question  ought 
to  have  been  freely  permitted.  Another  programme  said — "  The 
committee  of  the  Union  have  arranged  for  the  following  papers  to 
be  read  to  the  Assembly,"  and  after  enumerating  these  the  notice 
ends  thus  : — "  It  is  intended  that  these  papers  should  be  brief,  and 
that  ample  time  should  be  allowed  for  their  discussion,  and  for 
other  business." 

"The  Committee  of  Reference" — whose  "functions"  and  the 
time  of  "  exercising"  them  are  so  evasively  and  inconsecutively 
described  by  the  "Chairman"  in  his  note — existed  for  the  purpose 
or  pretence  of  giving  opportunity  to  introduce  "other  business;" 
but  when  the  business  is  honest  and  necessary,  the  Reference  Com- 
mittee has  "  no  opportunity  of  meeting,"  for  this  odd  reason,  "  its 
functions  being  exercised  'principally  on  the  first  day  of  the  Assem- 
bly's sitting." 

Since  the  committee  could  not  be  appealed  to,  I  wrote  to  the 
chairman  : — "  Will  you  allow  the  question  to  be  asked  ?" — I  got  an 
oral  answer  to  this  at  the  foot  of  the  platform  steps  : — "  We  must 
get  through  the  programme  first."  The  next  move  was  to  speak 
against  time.  But  at  last,  when  by  several  demonstrations,  the 
attention  of  the  meeting  was  called  to  the  questioner,  the  chairman, 


221 

as  represented  by  the  Sheffield  Independent,  Oct.  11,  1867,  which 
is  hostile  to  me,  explained  that  "  the  Rev.  Bkewin  Grant  had  sent 
him  a  note  asking  him  to  place  it  in  the  hands  of  the  Committee  of 
Reference.  He,  the  chairman,  put  it  into  the  hands  of  such  mem- 
bers of  the  committee  as  were  at  hand,  but  the  order  of  the  day  was 
such  as  to  prohibit  the  introduction  of  fresh  matter." 

This  reads  curiously  alongside  the  pencil  note: — "  The  Com- 
mittee of  Reference  has  had  no  opportunity  of  meeting  to-day,  its 
functions  being  exercised  principally  on  the  first  day  of  the  Assem- 
bly's sitting. — The  Chairman.'" 

The  affected  contempt  with  which  this  vigorous-minded  gentle- 
man informed  the  meeting  that  Mr.  Brewin  Grant,  of  Sheffield, 
wanted  to  obtrude  a  question  on  the  Assembly,  only  caused  numbers 
to  cry  out  "Platform  !  Platform  !  "  on  which  I  descended  from  a 
pew  seat  on  which  I  had  been  standing,  and  ascended  the  platform. 
There,  in  some  flutter,  I  stated  the  case,  and  was  surprised  to 
find,  from  three  papers,  that  I  had  managed  to  put  the  question 
distinctly,  for  it  was  the  culminating  point  of  long  labour  and 
some  excitement. 

Mr.  Robert  Leader,  of  the  Sheffield  Independent,  gave  in  his 
organ,  the  chairman's  curious  intimation  about  "  such  members 
of  the  reference  committee  as  were  at  hand,  but  that  the  order  of 
the  day  [he  meant  '  the  order  of '  the  committee]  was  such  as  to 
prohibit  the  introduction  of  fresh  matter :  "  and  the  same  report 
continues : — 

"  Mr  Grant  then  asked  him  to  put  the  question  from  the  chair.  That  he 
could  not  do,  hut  with  the  permission  of  the  Assembly  Mr.  Grant  might  now  put 
the  question  himself. 

The  Rev.  Brewin  Geant  said,  if  the  chairman  had  put  his  question  he  would 
not  have  taken  up  so  much  time  as  he  had  in  explaining.  It  was  to  ask 
for  information  in  reference  to  an  alteration  that  had  been  made  in  the  introduc- 
tion to  the  list  of  ministers  in  '•  The  Year  Book.''  He  wanted  to  know  who 
made  that  alteration,  and  by  what  authority  it  had  been  done.  The  introduction 
had  run,  "the  names  of  ministers  can  be  added  to,"  and  to  this  had  been 
added  "  or  omitted  from,"  the  list  on  certain  authority.  So  that  any  member  of 
that  assembly  was  liable  to  have  his  name  struck  off  the  list  by  the  tutor  of  a 
college  or  the  secretary  of  a  local  association.  This  was  now  the  rule  :  who 
made  it  ?  Had  the  committee  to  which  the  subject  was  referred  at  the  last 
autumnal  meeting  made  a  report  as  requested  ?  If  so,  when  did  they  report  ? 
Why  should  business  referred  to  a  committee  be  carried  away  and  smothered  ? 
When  would  the  report  be  presented,  and  who  had  changed  the  introduction  to 
the  Year  Book?  They  were  all  slaves  in  principle,  for  any  of  them  could  have 
his  name  removed  without  knowing  anything  about  it  until  it  was  done.  He 
didn't  say  they  dare  do  it,  except  to  a  few  poor  men  who  couldn't  speak  for  them- 
selves and  had  no  friend  who  could  speak  for  them.  What  he  said  was  for  the 
honour  of  his  brethren  and  of  the  denomination.     He  felt  ashamed  whenever  he 


222 

stood  before  churchmen  and  talked  about  Independency,  -when  its  principles  were 
violated  by  themselves.  He  had  no  object  but  to  free  the  denomination  from 
every  stigma  that  could  be  cast  upon  it.  He  believed  their  principles  were  per- 
fect, but  that  they  themselves  were  not.  The  Chaibman  reminded  Mr.  Grant 
that  he  was  making  a  speech  instead  of  merely  asking  a  question.  Mr.  Grant 
begged  pardon ;  he  knew  he  was  trespassing,  and  concluded  by  repeating  his 
questions — Did  the  committee  appointed  last  October  consider  and  report  as  to 
whether  any  alteration  should  be  made  in  the  terms  of  adding  ministers'  names 
to  or  taking  them  from  the  list,  and  if  they  had  not  reported  when  would  they  ? 
Secondly,  "Who  had  changed  the  '  Year  Book '  to  what  it  had  never  been  before, 
and  -which  it  would  not  have  been  now  if  he  (Mr.  Grant)  had  not  exposed  a  case 
of  tyranny  ?  " 

This  is  pretty  well  reported  for  Mr.  Leader  :  though  I  may  correct 
the  last  sentence  attributed  to  me  by  him,  and  this  I  can  do  by  two 
Manchester  papers.  The  Courier,  Oct.  11,  said,  "  He  (Mr.  Grant) 
stated  that  the  alteration  in  the  Book  had  been  made  to  cover  the 
tyranny  which  he  (had)  exposed."  The  Manchester  Guardian  of 
the  same  date  reported  me  as  saying,  "  Why  had  the  words  ■  omit- 
ted from'  been  put  in  this 'year  that  were  never  in  before,  and  would 
not  have  been  in  now  but  for  the  tyranny  of  the  committee,  which 
he  (Mr.  Grant)  had  endeavoured  to  expose." 

Dr.  Smith,  the  secretary,  instead  of  confessing  the  gross  injustice 
committed,  and  the  fraud  and  usurpation  of  inventing  a  law  to 
screen  it,  was  hysterically  affected  at  the  dreadful  taste  of  using  the 
word  "  tyranny."  Perpetrating  the  act  is  nothing — falsifying  the 
constitution  of  Congregationalism  by  a  forged  law  is  nothing  ;  but 
describing  it  in  mild  English  words  takes  the  good  man's  breath 
away  !  This  is  the  affected  delicacy  of  men  whose  "  words  are 
smoother  than  butter"  while  "  war  is  in  their  heart" — "  words 
softer  than  oil,  yet  were  they  drawn  swords"  (Ps.  lv.,  21).  None 
are  more  offensive  than  these  smooth-tongued  perpetrators  of  rough 
deeds,  and  whose  only  tenderness  is  for  themselves  as  they  lament 
the  "  free  handling"  of  honest  rebuke. 

The  bitter  sufferings  which  they  inflict  on  the  helpless  victims  of 
their  secret  conspiracies  excite  in  them  no  remorse  ;  but  they  call 
out  loudly  for  sympathy,  and  ride  off  loftily  on  the  high  horse  of 
fastidiousness  in  language  when  their  cruelty  is  described  in  the 
most  moderate  terms. 

But  of  all  refinement  of  taste  and  exquisite  delicacy  of  speech, 
what  can  equal  this  of  Dr.  Smith  in  reply  : — "  Dr.  Smith  asked 
whether  the  use  of  the  word  "tyranny"  was  a  gentlemanly  way  of 
putting  the  matter  ?  Mr.  Grant  was  the  only  gentleman  who  had 
used  such  language  in  their  assembly  in  all  the  years  he  had  known 
it."     When  some  cried  out  "  Question !"  in  reply  to  this  egregiously 


223 

hypocritical  evasion,  the  Doctor  retorted  : — "  If  any  friends  of  Mr. 
Grant  were  calling  '  question,'  he  begged  to  remind  them  that  he 
had  a  right  to  reply  to  the  remarks  that  had  been  made."  Exactly  : 
but  he  was  not  replying  to  them  :  he  was  fainting  off  into  fits  of 
virtuous  indignation  at  the  word  "  tyranny,"  to  hide  his  practice 
and  defence  of  it.  However,  he  did  at  last  come  nearer  the  point 
in  the  following  extraordinary  asseveration,  which  I  quote  from 
Mr.  Robert  Leader's  Sheffield  Independent: — "In  reply  to  the 
questions  put,  he  (Dr.  Smith)  had  to  say,  that  in  accordance  with 
the  resolution  proposed  last  year  the  committee  met  and  suggested 
the  alteration  as  it  now  appeared  in  the  Year  Book,  and  reported 
in  favour  of  the  alteration  ;  the  report  was  presented  to  the 
Union  last  May  and  was  adopted  by  the  Assembly.  Neither  the 
secretary  nor  editor  had  auything  to  do  with  the  alteration." 

Now,  if  he  had  said  : — "  The  committee  contrary  to  (instead  of 
1  in  accordance  with')  the  resolution  passed  last  year,  effected 
(instead  of  '  suggested")  the  alteration  as  it  now  stands  in  the  Tear 
Book,  and  said  nothing  about  (instead  of  '  reported  in  favour 
of ')  the  alteration  ;  no  report  was  presented  to  the  Union  (instead 
of  '  reported  it  to  the  Union')  last  May ;  and  therefore  it  could  not 
have  been  adopted  (instead  of  '  was  adopted')  by  the  assembly," 
he  would  have  said  the  exact  truth.  Dr.  Smith  has  publicly 
confessed  to  these  mistakes.  Such  mistakes  on  matters  in  which 
men  are  so  personally  concerned  do  not  often  occur.  It  is  true 
Mr.  Ashton,  the  editor,  confirmed  these  mistakes,  which  so  far 
made  them  less  singular  ;  but  to  this  day  I  never  could  understand 
them.  Mr.  Ashton,  under  the  same  strange  and  fatal  hallucination 
as  reported  by  Mr.  Leader's  paper,  said  "  He  would  not  supple- 
ment the  answer  of  Dr.  Smith  further  than  to  say  that  no  name 
was  put  into  or  taken  from  the  list  without  the  authority  of  the 
brethren.  The  secretaries  of  county  associations  sent  the  names 
of  ministers,  and  they  were  inserted  in  the  Year  Book  just  as  they 
were  sent."  A  Manchester  paper  adds  : — "  It  was  not  he  (Mr. 
Ashton)  but  the  brethren  in  the  county  that  were  responsible."  He 
knows,  or  should  be  taught,  that  even  this  authority  of  brethren 
from  the  county  has  to  do  only  with  adding  new  names.  Joseph's 
name  was  omitted  by  "  brethren  in  the  country,"  but  their  "  report" 
was  such  that  to  describe  it  by  name  would  not,  as  Dr.  Smith 
would  say,  be  "  a  gentlemanly  way  of  putting  the  thing."  They 
first  thought  to  kill  him,  then  sold  him,  and  then  omitted  him  from 
the  list  of  surviving  sons  of  their  father. 


224 

It  was  imposed  upon  that  meeting  that  Joseph's  "  brethren  in 
the  country,"  acted  as  secretaries,  under  the  orders  of  their 
respective  associations ;  whereas  the  omission  referred  to  was  of 
a  name  admitted  into  the  "  Register  of  the  West-Riding,"  and  was 
never  debated  nor  decided  upon  by  that  association :  the  secret 
personal  omission  of  it  by  a  district  secretary,  who  ought  to  have 
returned  it  as  in  his  district,  was  the  editor's  excuse  for  a  further 
act  of  omission,  namely  from  the  standing  general  list  of  ministers. 
Samuel  Morley,  Esq.,  who  miraculously  escaped  being  spoiled  by 
all  the  toadyism  which  he  must  have  experienced,  declared  that  it 
was  "  a  vital  question,  and  that  the  character  of  no  living  men 
should  be  in  the  hands  of  one  man."  This  is  plain  common  sense 
and  honesty,  and  it  indicates  that  the  removal  of  a  name  is  the 
destruction  of  "character:"  it  is  in  fact,  the  most  virulent  form 
of  libel.  Mr.  Morley  added  that  "  a  man's  character  should  be 
safe,  not  in  the  hands  of  any  secretary  or  committee,  but  of  the 
whole  association:"  whereas  neither  the  man  himself  nor  the 
local  association — of  which  he  is  not  necessarily  a  member — knows 
anything  of  the  matter.  He  is  decapitated  professionally  by  the 
private  act  of  an  official  acting  unofficially,  and  by  the  endorsement 
of  the  Year  Book  editor,  acting  illegally  and  screened  by  the 
committee. 

Thus  Dr.  Falding  erases  Mr.  Vaughan's  name  from  the  leaf 
of  the  old  Year  Book,  as  no  longer  at  Masbro'  chapel,  and  omits  to 
put  it  down  as  in  the  same  district  connected  with  a  "new  cause;" 
and  this  want  of  fidelity  in  a  return  for  the  district  is  crowned  by 
the  London  editor  taking  the  same  name  out  of  the  list  of  ministers 
in  England  in  which  it  has  stood  for  thirty  years ! 

Then  they  play  at  see-saw,  and  throw  the  blame  on  one  another, 
while  the  victim  of  their  combined  treachery  suffers  a  silent 
martyrdom  and  dies;  and  the  one  who  protects  his  rights  and 
reputation  against  these  magnates  is  denounced  as  a  man  of  a  very 
bad  spirit,  who  would  not  let  such  godly  men  extinguish  a  brother 
in  peace. 

Mr.  Morley's  natural  honesty,  however,  notwithstanding  the 
confusion  of  the  moment  and  the  well-acted  horror  of  the  officials 
at  Manchester,  enabled  him  to  see  that  some  explanation  was 
required.  He  asked  whether  the  explanation  "  was  satisfactory  to 
the  brethren  ?"  The  Manchester  Courier,  gives  as  the  answer, 
"No,  no!"  The  Manchester  Guardian  paper  gives — "  Yes,  yes, 
and  no,  no  !"  "  The  chairman"  then  comes  in  to  conclude  the 
scene,  by  judiciously  observing,  according  to  the  Sheffield  Indtpen- 


225 

dent,  "  that  all  this  was  out  of  order."  The  Manchester  Examiner 
and  Times  reports  : — "  The  chairman  here  interposed,  and  said  the 
discussion  was  quite  irregular.  The  question  had  been  put  and 
fairly  answered.  It  should  have  been  brought  before  the  committee 
of  the  Assembly  in  a  regular  way."  The  Guardian  reports  him  as 
saying : — "  The  question  had  been  most  irregularly  introduced." 
There  was  no  need  to  have  added  this  grave  mistake  to  the  other 
asseverations  which  disgraced  the  meeting,  and  which  Dr.  Smith 
afterwards  publicly  recanted,  when  he  was  certain  to  be  detected. 
This  recantation  will  be  noticed  afterwards.  Samuel  Mopley, 
Esq.,  in  reply  to  a  private  urgent  request  that  he  would  fairly 
look  into  the  matter,  said  emphatically — "  I  will"  Knowing 
if  he  had  the  opportunity  of  attending  to  it  the  matter  would 
be  honourably  adjusted,  I  left  the  Manchester  meeting.  I  had,  how- 
ever, so  far  advanced  since  the  "  crying  down"  meeting  at  Sheffield, 
that  I  was  cried  up  to  the  platform ;  and  unless  some  new  and 
more  desperate  act  of  tyranny  should  prevent  the  union  meetings 
recurring  to  the  subject  I  was  sure  that  the  battle  of  freedom  was 
won.  "What  further  provocation  the  committee  received,  and  how 
it  plunged  into  a  deeper  gulf  to  escape,  will  be  noticed  subsequently. 


Chapter  XXIV. 

DR.  SMITH'S  RECANTATION  OF  HIS  ANSWER  TO  ME 

ABOUT  THE  YEAR  BOOK;   AND  THE  COMMITTEE'S 

TWO  NEW  SHUFFLES. 

London  and  Leeds  Meetings,  1868. 

The  following  article,  re-stating  this  "  Year  Book"  case,  and 
advancing  the  history  of  it,  appeared  in  the  Sheffield  Telegraph, 
January  1868  :— 

"  THE  CONGREGATIONAL  YEAR  BOOK"  AND  THE 
REV.  BREWIN  GRANT,  B.A. 

Those  of  our  contemporaries  in  Manchester  and  elsewhere  who  published  an 
account  of  "  the  scene"  on  the  above  subject,  in  the  "  autumnal  meetings"  of 
the  Congregational  Union  in  Manchester  last  year,  should  in  justice  give  equal 
currency  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  George  Smith's  correction  of,  and  apology  for,  the 
answer  which  he  gave  to  the  Rev.  Brewin  Grant's  questions  respecting  the 
authority  for  certain  important  and  objectionable  changes,  conferring  on  certain 
officials  the  arbitrary  power  of  omitting  the  name  of  any  Congregational  minister 
from  the  "  alphabetical  list"  of  accredited  Congregational  pastor. 


226 

Such  a  sweeping,  irresponsible  power  is  not  even  dreamed  of  in  other  denomi- 
nations, who  are  supposed  to  be  inferior  to  the  Congregationalists  in  the  professed 
freedom  of  their  principles.  In  reply  to  the  inquiry — on  what  authority  this  new 
rule  was  promulgated,  the  Eev.  Dr.  George  Smith,  the  secretary  of  the  Congre- 
gational Union,  declared  that  it  was  done  by  the  committee,  in  accordance  with 
certain  instructions,  which  only  authorised  the  committee  to  inquire  and  report, 
not  to  legislate.  He  further  said  that  the  new  law,  thus  made  and  promulgated, 
six  months  before  the  meeting  of  the  Assembly,  to  which  the  committee  was  to 
report,  was  reported  to,  and  approved  of  by,  that  public  meeting.  This,  if  true, 
would  have  made  the  rule  no  better,  and  would  only  have  convicted  the  Assembly 
of  endorsing  tyranny.  It  is,  however,  now  frankly  acknowlddged  that  the  rule, 
bad  in  itself,  was  surreptitiously  introduced,  and  has  not  even  the  apology  of 
having  been  publicly  approved  of.  The  full  admission  of  this  extraordinary  fact 
was  published  in  The  English  Independent  of  January  2,  in  the  following 
letter : — 

"  CONGREGATIONAL   UNION. 

"TO    THE    EDITOR    OF    THE    ENGLISH    INDEPENDENT. 

"  Sir, — Will  you  kindly  allow  me,  through  your  paper,  to  correct  an  error  into 
which  I  unintentionally  fell  at  the  late  autumnal  meeting  of  the  Congregational 
Union  in  Manchester  ?  When  the  Rev.  Brewin  Grant  made  inquiry  as  to  an 
alteration  in  the  beginning  of  the  alphabetical  list  of  ministers  in  the  Year-book, 
and  asked  who  made  it,  and  by  what  authority,  I  replied  that  it  had  been  made 
by  order  of  the  committee,  under  an  instruction  of  the  assembly  at  Sheffield,  and 
that  it  had  been  reported  to  the  annual  meeting  in  May  last  and  approved.  On 
looking  at  the  annual  report  of  that  meeting,  as  given  in  the  Year-book  for 
1868,  much  to  my  surprise  I  find  there  is  no  allusion  to  the  alteration,  and  I 
conclude  that  it  was  from  forgetfulness  omitted.  While  regretting  this  omission, 
I  very  deeply  deplore  the  mistake  I  made  in  stating  my  conviction  that  the  change 
had  been  noticed  in  the  report.  The  statement,  though  erroneous,  as  I  now 
fear,  was  made  in  perfect  good  faith,  and  with  the  concurrent  opinion  of  my  col- 
league, Mr.  Ashton,  who  was  equally  of  opinion  with  me  that  the  alteration  had 
been  reported.  On  finding  now  my  mistake,  I  lose  no  time  in  offering  to  Mr. 
Grant  and  all  the  members  of  the  Union  an  expression  of  my  sincere  regret  for 
its  occurrence.  The  effected  alteration  in  the  heading  of  the  alphabetical  list 
will  be  reported  to  the  next  annual  meeting,  when  opportunity  will  be  afforded  of 
ascertaining  how  far  it  meets  the  views  and  wishes  of  the  brethren. 

"  I  remain  yours  faithfully, 

GEORGE    SMITH. 

"  Poplar,  January  1st,  18G8." 

It  is  needless  to  inquire  how  the  two  secretaries,  who  arrange  the  business  of 
the  committee  meetings  and  the  public  assemblies,  should  have  been  so  almost 
contemptuously  confident  that  this  important  matter,  which  had  caused  "  no 
small  stir,"  formed  a  part  of  the  public  business  in  May,  1867. 

"It  is  equally  difficult  \o  understand  how  the  secretary,  who  takes  the  minutes 
of  the  meetings,  should  have  waited  to  see  them  in  print  and  published  before 
knowing  their  contents,  when  all  the  world  could  read  and  discover  the  mis- 
statement. 

"  It  is,  however,  satisfactory  to  find  so  open  a  confession,  and  still  more 
to  learn  that  the  matter  is  not  only  to  be  reported  but  to  be  debated  at  the  next 
annual  meetings  in  May.   Let  us  hope  that  the  debate  will  be  free  and  open,  and 


227 

mat  the  Bev.  Brewin  Grant  will  not  meet  with  such  finesse  and  scheming  as  were 
employed  to  prevent  the  public  utterance  of  his  two  plain  questions  at  Manchester. 

"  In  order  that  the  point  may  be  settled  in  London,  and  not  have  to  be  re-opened 
rregularly  at  the  next  country  meeting,  where  it  might  be  roughly  ventilated, 
the  committee  should  arrange  beforehand  to  permit  an  amendment  on  the  report, 
namely,  the  counter-proposal  that  the  new  rule  is  irregularly  introduced,  is  a 
violation  of  ministerial  rights,  and  ought,  for  the  honour  of  the  denomination,  to 
be  omitted  from  '  The  Congregational  Year  Book.'  A  fair  hearing  of  this  subject, 
of  a  quarter  of  an  hour  or  twenty  minutes,  with  five  minutes  for  reply,  might  in 
justice  be  accorded  to  one  who  has  given  himself  so  much  trouble  on  this  subject, 
and  who  could  have  no  other  motive,  in  exposing  himself  to  obloquy  from  the 
more  influential,  than  to  defend  the  rights  of  his  brethren  and  recover  the  honour 
of  his  denomination.  Of  one  thing  the  committee  of  the  Congregational  Union 
may  be  assured,  namely,  that  the  question  cannot  be  shelved;  nor  can  it  be  laid 
at  rest  till  it  is  fairly  debated,  if,  indeed,  it  admits  of  debate. 

"  If  Congregationalists  expect  to  influence  others  in  the  way  of  freedom,  they 
must  not  enslave  their  own  ministers  and  enshrine  tyranny  in  their  '  Year  Book.'  " 
— Sheffield  Telegraph. 

The  method  of  introducing  the  matter  at  the  London  May 
Meeting  in  1868  may  be  called  smuggling.  There  was  no  intention 
for  the  matter  to  be  debated,  whether  such  an  insane  or  wicked 
rule  should  be  adopted,  but  just  to  adopt  it  as  "  the  effected  alter- 
ation," as  Dr.  Smith  affectedly  calls  it  in  his  curiously-timed  letter 
of  apology  for  a  very  extraordinary  mistake. 

In  consequence  of  being  engaged  with  a  second  Bazaar  towards 
liquidating  the  debt  on  my  church  before  leaving  it,  I  was  unable 
to  be  present  at  the  London  May  Meeting,  1868. 

Dr.  Smith  relying,  and  for  once  mistakenly,  on  the  servility  of 
his  audience,  referred  in  the  report  to  "  an  accidental  omission" 
from  the  preceding  report,  of  this  "  effected  alteration,"  and  told 
the  Assembly  how  the  committee  had  appointed  a  sub-committee, 
and  being  itself  reported  to,  had  accordingly  adopted  those  new 
words  "  or  omitted  from"  which  gives  new  illegal  power  of 
expulsion  to  certain  august  officials.  He  did'nt  apologize  for  this 
assumption  of  legislative  functions  by  a  committee  that  engaged  to 
report  to  the  Assembly. 

Notwithstanding  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Binney  by  the  diversion  of  a 
little  joke  to  rivet  the  fetters  of  slavery  on  his  weaker  brethren,  the 
whole  scheme  was  foiled.  The  following  account  of  the  matter  is 
given  by  the  English  Independent,  whose  slavish  or  tyrannical  prin- 
ciples make  it  the  willing  tool  of  the  "  ruling  elders,"  and  therefore 
its  testimony  is  valid  against  them. 

"  The  Bev.  E.  S.  Prout  :  I  intended  to  have  seconded  the  resolution  without 
a  single  sentence ;  but  there  is  one  paragraph  in  the  report  I  feel  must  be  spoken 
offer  a  moment,  because  it  is  now  or  never.  The  report  submits  to  the  judg- 
ment of  tMs  meeting  the  altered  terms  in  regard  to  the  adi^i&sioi?  and  omission 


228 

I 

of  names  on  the  list  of  our  accredited  ministers.  Inasmuch  as  it  is  submitted 
for  our  judgment,  I  do  not  feel  I  am  violating  the  confidence  of  the  secretary  in 
referring  to  it.  The  terms  on  which  names  are  added  to  the  list  are  unquestion- 
able. There  are  five  methods  in  which  a  minister's  name  may  be  added  to  the 
list  already  in  existence,  but  the  same  rules,  according  to  the  wording  of  the 
resolution,  would  cause  a  name  to  be  omitted  ;  and  tbere,  I  think  is  the  weak 
point,  and  it  is  really  a  serious  one  in  matter  of  form,  even  though  we  have  perfect 
confidence  that  neither  secretary  or  committee  would  do  anything  that  would  be 
ungenerous  or  harsh  to  any  brother  throughout  the  whole  country.  But,  as  the 
terms  of  this  resolution  run,  if  two  tutors  of  a  college  write  up  to  the  secretary  to 
say,  '  Mr.  A.  has  forfeited  his  character,  he  has  been  guilty  of  so-and-so,  he  has 
lost  the  confidence  of  his  brethren,  and  therefore  his  name  ought  to  be  left  out," 
according  to  the  wording  of  those  terms  the  secretary  would  be  bound  to  strike 
out  the  name.  The  committee  does  not  mean  that,  I  feel  certain.  If  the  secre- 
tary of  the  district  association  sends  up  to  say,  '  Mr.  A.  is  no  longer  a  member  of 
that  association,'  that  is  a  different  matter ;  but  as  the  words  are  here  written, 
certainly  two  tutors  or  five  members  of  the  Congregational  Board  of  Ministers  in 
London  would  have  the  power  of  requiring  the  name  to  be  omitted.  I  think  the 
mistake  arises  from  endeavouring  to  condense  into  one  sentence  the  terms  of 
admission  and  omission.  The  terms  of  admission  are  unquestionable ;  the  terms 
of  removal  need  to  be  very  carefully  re-considered.  I  have  great  pleasure,  with 
that  exception,  in  seconding  the  resolution. 

"  The  Kev.  Thomas  Binney  :  I  think  there  was  an  expression  that  must  have 
come  upon  the  minds  of  a  great  many  persons  here  who  were  present  at  Man- 
chester, and  I  am  afraid  must  have  caused  them  a  great  deal  of  pain.  A  little 
alteration  would  remove  that  distress,  and  I  am  sure  my  friend  Mr.  Geo.  Smith 
will  attend  to  it.  He  said  it  was  a  very  great  thing  that  the  hospitality  of  the 
people  of  Manchester  was  equal  to  the  '  increased  requirements '  of  their  visitors. 
Now  I  think  he  means  the  increased  number  of  visitors.  (Laughter.)  I  was  not 
at  Manchester,  but  I  should  be  very  sorry  to  think  that  you  went  there,  all  of 
you,  with  increased  requirements.     (Laughter.) 

<;  The  Kev.  Dr.  Smith  :  I  am  very  sorry  we  had  not  the  benefit  of  that  criticism 
before,  but  Mr.  Binney  has  given  the  right  meaning  to  it.  It  means  an 
augmented  number,  and  the  correction  shall  be  made. 

"  The  Chairman  was  about  to  put  the  resolution  adopting  the  report,  when  a 
delegate  interposed,  and  asked  what  were  the  terms  or  exclusion  ? 

"  The  Chairman  :  It  has  come  upon  me  partly  by  surprise.  But  it  seems 
that  there  never  has  been  a  report  given  to  this  Union  from  the 
committee  that  was  appointed  to  report  to  it,  and  that  we  have  the 
thing  now  tabulated  and  adopted  without  really  having  ourselves 
sanctioned  it.  Possibly  the  thing  might  be  accomplished,  and  all  interests  and 
susceptibilities  met,  by  simply  referring  this  point  for  consideration  during  the 
year,  and  bringing  it  up  again  for  your  adoption  in  an  amended  form. 

"  The  Rev.  Dr.  Smith:  I  think,  sir,  that  would  be  a  very  wise  course.  I 
quite  think  there  is  weight  in  the  remark  our  friend  made.  I  have  no  doubt  that 
attempting  to  put  the  whole  definition  into  one  short  phrase  led  to  obscurity.  I 
may  state  it  is  the  intention  op  the  committee  that  the  name  of  no 
person  shall  be  omitted  but  on  the  authority  of  local,  COUNTY,  OB 
other  associations  ;  that  the  authority  shall  not  be  in  London,  but  with  the 
brethren  in  the  neighbourhood  where  the  man  lives.  If  that  does  not 
appear  quite  plain  now,  I  think  the  suggestion  of  Dr.  Raleigh  a  very  wise  one ;  it 
can  be  taken  into  consideration,  and  reported  upon  at  a  future  meeting." 


229 

Ordinary  persons  would  imagine  that  Dr.  Smith  and  the  committee 
could  now  have  no  escape  from  bringing  it  before  the  next  general 
meeting ;  whereas  they  suppress  all  reference  to  this  debate  in 
their  Year  Book,  and  simply  say — "  It  was  moved  and  seconded 
that  this  assembly,  in  receiving  and  adopting  this  report,  renders 
its  cordial  thanks  to  the  committee,"  &c.  (Year  Book  1869,  p.  33.) 
But  the  vote  of  the  assembly  and  the  dictum  of  the  chairman  would 
lead  any  judge  to  decide  that  the  newly-forged  law  is  an  illegality, 
and  its  enforcement  a  punishable  crime. 

But  then  it  was  brought  forward  at  the  next  meeting,  perhaps, 
and  settled,  as  far  as  the  Assembly  has  authority  by  its  "  constitu- 
tion" to  settle  it  ?  By  no  means,  my  verdant  friend ;  it  was  silently 
passed  by,  as  no  doubt  intended  to  be,  when  Dr.  Smith  thought 
the  chairman's  "  suggestion"  "  a  very  wise  one." 

I  was  busy  lecturing  when  the  next  Union  meeting  was  held,  in 
October  of  1868,  at  Leeds  ;  otherwise,  as  my  church  was  "  in 
arrears,"  so  I  could  not  go  as  a  delegate  from  it,  I  should  have 
sent  the  "five  shillings"  and  gone,  especially  as  I  had  several 
invitations  to  the  houses  of  friends. 

I  however  sent  a  letter  and  a  number  of  pamphlets — "  Gladstone 
and  Justice  to  Ireland"  among  the  rest — which  excited  such 
indignation  and  wrath  that  a  friend  wrote  to  say  he  was  glad  I  had 
not  gone,  for  I  should  not  have  been  permitted  to  be  heard.  The 
feeling  ran  very  high ;  and  even  he,  said  he  did  not  expect  among 
my  papers  one  on  the  Irish  Church  ;  but  that  he  should  always  be 
"  glad  to  see  me  as  a  personal  friend,"  which  meant  no  longer  in 
my  public  ministerial  capacity, — that  was  sealed  and  doomed,  for 
we  are  extremely  "liberal." 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Thomas,  of  Leeds,  who,  like  a  great  many  more, 
once  oracularly  denounced  my  "  Rescue  of  Faith,"  and  had  to 
confess  in  company  that  he  never  saw  it  nor  the  "  Christian  Faith" 
which  it  criticised — rose  towards  the  end  of  the  proceedings  to  move 
some  vote  of  thanks,  when  he  incautiously  admitted  the  terror  under 
which  the  officials  and  then  adherents  had  assembled,  for  fear  I 
should  be  there  after  all ! 

He  declared  how  they  had  met  in  fear  and  trembling,  expecting 
some  earthquake  or  tornado,  and  then  looking  round  with  recovered 
courage,  observed  with  gratitude,  but  I  do  not  see  the  person  present 
-who  was  to — "No!  no!"  greeted  him;  he  was  rebuked  for  the 
confession  ;  and  then  rallying,  he  said  how  he  at  any  rate  blessed 
the  Lawhd  that  they  had  been  able  to  hold  their  meetings  in 
harmony,  &c. — "Hush  ! "  So,  he  stopped  short,  or  would  have  added, 


230 

that  they  could  sit  under  their  own  vine  and  fig  tree,  none  daring  to 
make  them  afraid  !     For  tyrants  are  often  cowards. 

Now  why  should  it  have  been  so  dreadful  for  me  to  appear  among 
a  host  of  cultivated  speakers  ?  I  had  the  above  account  from  one 
intelligent  witness,  and  it  was  confirmed  to  me  lately  by  another, 
who,  like  the  first  witness,  is  a  Gladstonian. 

In  my  letter  to  the  Union  Meeting  at  Leeds,  which  was  circulated 
extensively,  I  quoted  Dr.  Smith's  recantation  and  the  shuffle  at 
London,  and  asked:  Will  the  question  be  "fairly  debated"  at 
Leeds  ?  or,  "  will  the  brethren  still  stand  in  this  independent 
position  ?  It  is  nothing  to  me.  I  secure  only  insult  and  defama- 
tion. But  the  honour  and  integrity  of  British  Nonconformity  are 
at  stake,  as  Dr.  Parker  says." 

The  English  Independent  gave  out  hints  that  a  new  method  of 
arranging  the  names  of  ministers  would  be  adopted ;  .and  in  one 
place  I  think  I  read  that  it  would  facilitate  a  "judicious  weeding  of 
the  list."  That  paper  had  already  declared  that  I  could  no  longer 
be  a  Congregational  minister,  since  I  did  not  adore  Mr.  Gladstone, 
or  his  "  gods  and  heroes  of  Greece"  or  Rome.  Aided  by  liberals  in 
other  liberal  papers,  it  tried  to  smooth  the  way  of  the  dictation 
in  the  Union  as  they  all  set  up  a  dictator  in  the  State.  The  Non- 
conformist, gladly  joining  in  this  conspiracy,  quoted  (Nov.  11,  1868) 
the  following  from  its  colleaguing  contemporary  : — 

The  Congregational  Year  Book. — An  entirely  new  plan  has  been  deter- 
mined for  arranging  the  list  of  Congregational  ministers  in  the  "Year  Book." 
Henceforth  the  names  of  those  only  will  be  inserted  who  are  connected  with  the 
London  Congregational  Board,  or  with  one  of  the  county  associations.  Others 
can  only  be  admitted  on  the  requisition  of  five  neighbouring  ministers  who  are 
themselves  accredited  ministers  of  some  association.  This  will  relieve  the  editor 
from  all  responsibility. — English  Independent, 

Neither  of  these  editors  explained  how  responsibility  was  evaded 
by  the  surreptitious  invention  of  a  new  rule  a  second  time,  for  now 
another  alteration  had  been  determined  on  without  the  assembly 
having  been  consulted. 

This  second  new  rule  came  out  with  the  Year  Book  of  1869,  and 
was  thus  referred  to  in  the  Nonconformist  (Jany.  6)  : — 

In  the  list  of  ministers  no  names  are  allowed  to  appear  but  those  returned  by 
the  secretaries  of  County  Associations  or  Unions,  and  the  secretaries  of  the  Con- 
gregational Board  and  the  General  Union.  This  rule  has  been  adopted  with  a 
view  to  obviate  unpleasant  controversies. 

Now  this  method  "  of  obviating  unpleasant  controversies"  only 
aggravates  them,  and  places  the  committee  and  its  agents  and  pub- 


231 

lisher  in  a  dangerous  position ,  if  their  victims  are  not  so  crushed 
as  to  find  neither  friends  nor  means  to  vindicate  and  recompense 
the  sufferers. 

Before  the  Year  Book  came  out,  the  rumours  and  paragraphs 
respecting  some  new  style  of  "thumb-screw"  led  me  to  enquire  of  the 
secretary,  Dr.  Smith,  but  knowing  how  he  had  insulted  me  previously, 
as  when,  at  Sheffield,  I  civilly  asked  him  a  civil  question  as  he  passed 
out  of  the  meeting,  he  went  on  muttering  thunder,  and  I  followed 
saying  "  I  beg  your  pardon,  I  did  not  understand  what  you  were 
saying ;"  to  which  he  replied,  rather  gruffly,  "lam  ashamed  of 
being  seen  speaking  to  you."  I  promised  that  it  would  not  occur 
again: — in  writing  to  so  great  a  man,  even  though  he  had  publicly 
apologized  to  me  for  his  Manchester  answer,  I  thought  it  becoming 
and  modest  to  assume  the  third  person  ;  which  I  did  as  follows  : — 

"  Sheffield,  Dec.  8th,  1868. 

"  The  Rev.  Brewin  Grant  presents  his  compliments  to  the  Rev.  Dr. 
George  Smith,  and  would  be  obliged  by  being  informed  whether  the 
statement  respecting  "the  entirely  new  plan"  "for  arranging  the 
list  of  Congregational  Ministers  in  the  Year  Book,"  as  described  in 
the  English  Independent,  and  quoted  thence  into  the  Nonconformist 
of  November  11th,  was  sanctioned  by  any  public  meeting  at  Leeds, 
and  whether  it  refers  to  new  ministers  only,  or  to  names  that  have 
long  been  on  the  list. 

Further — whether  the  Year  Book  question  as  previously  brougrTt 
up  in  Sheffield,  Manchester  and  London,  was  put  down  on  the 
programme  for  Leeds  ?  On  both  public  and  personal  grounds  an 
answer  to  these  questions  is  respectfully  requested  ;  since  it  should 
be  known  if  new  terms  for  continuing  on  the  list  are  demanded,  and 
by  what  authority  the  long-established  custom  of  the  denomination 
is  departed  from,  if  such  should  be  the  case. 

"  A  directed  and  stamped  envelope  is  enclosed  for  the  favour  of 
a  reply." 

"  Bournemouth,  Dec.  17th,  1868. 

"  Dear  Sir, — I  have  no  recollection  of  the  newspaper  paragraph 
to  which  yon  refer,  and  therefore  cannot  answer  your  question 
respecting  it. 

"  So  far  as  I  remember,  the  Year  Book  question  was  not  put 
down  for  Leeds,  it  having  been  decided  upon  at  the  annual  meeting, 
if  my  memory  serves  me  aright ;  but  as  I  am  from  London,  on  ac- 
count of  the  state  of  my  health,  I  have  no  access  to  the  documents 
which  would  enable  me  to  give  the  information  you  seek.     Mr. 


232 

Ashton,  the  editor  of  the  Year  Book,   is  better  able  than  I  am  to 
answer  the  questions  you  propose  to  me. 

"  I  remain  yours  faithfully, 
"  Rev.  B.  Grant,  B.A."  "  G.  SMITH. 

Mr.  Ashton  was  surly  and  would  not  answer  at  all,  even  when  I 
was  myself  the  victim ;  but  I  ought  here  to  say,  to  Dr.  Smith's 
credit,  that  since  this  occurred  he  has  always  been  prompt  and 
courteous  in  his  answers.  But  it  will  not  escape  the  notice  of  the 
reader  that  this  official  of  the  Union  should  not  only,  at  Manchester, 
make  so  grave  a  mistake,  confirmed  by  Mr.  Ashton  of  course,  but 
should,  at  the  time  of  writing  the  above,  be  ignorant  whether  the 
question  was  put  on  the  programme  for  Leeds,  according  to  his 
public  promise  to  the  chairman  in  London :  and  even  think  the 
matter  was  settled  there,  when  his  report  of  it  was  rejected  by  the 
assembly !  It  is  on  such  rules,  so  concocted,  that  the  Congrega- 
tional Union  may  have  legally  to  vindicate  its  good  faith  in  its 
dealings  with  ejected  Nonconformists. 


Chapteb  XXY. 
THE    CHERRYTREE    ORPHANAGE, 

TOTLEY,  NEAK  SHEFFIELD, 


Notwithstanding  the  difficulty  of  getting  into  the  space  fixed  upon 
for  this  book  all  that  I  should  like  to  say,  I  must  give  a  short 
chapter  to  this  excellent  institution,  which  needs  and  deserves  the 
assistance  of  Christian  people. 

A  few  years  ago,  Mr.  E.  R.  Taylor,  who  was  I  think  brought  up 
among  the  Wesleyans,  and  was  for  some  time  Havelock  Missionary 
to  our  soldiers  in  India,  and  in  the  same  capacity  in  other  parts, 
was  impressed  with  the  idea  of  taking  in>  and  educating  orphan 
children.  He  first  received  some  into  his  house  at  Cherrytree, 
Sheffield ;  then  filled  the  next  house  ;  then  took  a  large  hall  at 
Highfield,  Sheffield,  and  then  began  to  build  a  large  Orphanage 
at  Totley,  about  four  miles  distant. 

All  this  was  begun  in  faith,  and  he  found,  generally,  that  supplies 
'•atne  in  for  support  of  the  children.     But  some  became  afraid  that 


233 

the  contract  for  building  could  not  be  carried  out ;  that  it  was  rash, 
or  too  adventurous  ;  and  steps  were  unwisely  taken  that  eventually 
lessened  public  confidence,  so  that  the  building  was  in  danger  of 
stopping  a  little  above  the  foundation. 

At  this  time  J.  Webster,  Esq.,  the  Mayor  of  Sheffield,  kindly 
laid  the  foundation-stone  ;  and  I  attended,  simply  because  ,the 
enterprise  was  in  danger. 

I  was  asked  to  act  as  treasurer  to  the  building  fund,  and  spent 
two  months  in  begging  and  teaching  the  collector  to  beg.  We  had 
much  misrepresentation  to  battle  with ;  but  with  many,  my  name 
did  the  institution  good  :  and  a  few  days  before  writing  this,  I  saw 
the  last  certificate  to  the  builder  for  £250,  and  went  with  the 
collector  to  S.  Fox,  Esq.,  of  Deepcar,  who  had  promised  a  second 
help  when  the  building  and  grounds  were  put  in  trust ;  but  our  ex- 
Mayor,  who  laid  the  stone,  had  not  yet  been  able  to  complete  the 
trust  deed.  However,  as  we  could  explain  that  it  was  in  process, 
and  would  soon  be  finished,  but  that  in  the  mean  time  the  con- 
tractor needed  some  advance,  Mr.  Fox,  kindly  gave  us  another 
£50.  Many  gentlemen  had  generously  given  fifty ;  among  the 
earliest,  Feancis  Hoole,  Esq.,  the  worthiest  layman  among  Dis- 
senters in  Sheffield,  sent  for  me,  and  having  enquired  into  the  case 
gave  £50  :  several  others  did  the  same,  and  so  we  started  into 
public  confidence. 

I  write  this  simply  to  enlist  the  sympathies  of  the  benevolent, 
both  towards  the  support  of  the  children — between  forty  and  fifty 
of  whom  I  saw  dining  on  Christmas  day  last,  with  only  one  sickly 
child  amongst  them — and  also  for  any  further  aid  towards  com- 
pleting the  furnishing,  and  the  final  entire  purchase  of  the  land,  or 
rather  removing  any  debt,  for  it  is  purchased,  and  at  a  very 
reasonable  rate. 

The  following  is  quoted  from  a  circular  which  contains  a  list  of 
the  subscribers  to  the  building  fund  : — 

"  This  Institution  is  not  local  or  sectarian  in  its  operations,  but  receives 
orphans  from  all  parts  of  the  United  Kingdom  ;  has  been  in  operation  over  five 
years,  and  it  was  necessary  to  erect  a  suitable  building.  A.  site  was  accordingly 
secured  at  Totley,  near  Sheffield.  The  foundation  stone  was  laid  by  John 
Webster,  Esq.,  Mayor  of  Sheffield,  August  21st,  1867. 

The  object  of  this  Institution  is  to  feed  and  clothe  orphan  children  of  both 
sexes;  and  to  educate  them  on  unsectarian  principles,  and  prepare  them  to 
become  honest  servants  and  good  citizens. 

The  new  building,  and  Brook  Hall,  with  nine  acres  of  land,  will  cost  £3500. 
The  whole  is  being  put  in  trust. 


234 

The  following  gentlemen  are  the  trustees  : — 
J.Webster,  Esq.,  Ex-Mayor,  Broom-bank[  W.  Fisher,  Esq.,  J.P.,  Norton  Grange 


T.  Moore,  Esq.,  Mayor,  Ashdell- grove 
S.  Butcher,  Esq.,  J.P.,  Banner  Cross  Hall 
Henry  Pawson,  Esq.,  Broomhail  Place 
W.  C.  Leng,  Esq.,  Broomhail  Park 
W.  Howson,  Esq.,  Storr  Wood 
F.  W.  Hoole,  Esq.,  Moor  Lodge 
C.  Doncaster,  Esq.,  Broomhail  Park 
John  Unwin,  Esq.,  Kockingham-street 
John  Hall,  Esq.,  Westbourne 
B.  Nicholson,  Esq.,  Cemetery-road 
W.  H.  Greaves,  Esq.,  Norfolk-road 
Alfred  Chadburn,  Esq.,  Brincliffe 
Thomas  Searles,  Esq.,  Pitsmoor 
Joseph  Haywood,  Esq.,  Highfield 
James  Morton,  Esq.,  Lawson-road 
W.  H.  Ward,  Esq.,  East  Bank 
George  Saville,  Esq.,  Snig-hill 
Samuel  Fox,  Esq.,  Deepcar 


G.  Wostenholm,  Esq.,  Kenwood-house 

William  Harmar,  Esq.,  Norton 

S.  Osborn,  Esq.,  Butledge,  Clarkehouse- 

road 
W.  Whitehead,  Esq.,  Sharrow-head 
H.  Cooper,  Esq.,  Pitsmoor 
W.  H.  Fawcett,  Esq.,  Clarke-house 
R.  Broadhead,  Esq.,  Upper  Hanover-st. 
George  Bassett,  Esq.,  Endcliffe 
Isaac  Milner,  Esq.,  Priory  Villas 
E.  Searle,  Esq.,  Belmont,  Upperthorpe 
E.T.Eadon,  Esq.,BrookVilla,Attercliffe 
S.Meggitt,  Esq.,  Cannon  Hall,  Pitsmoor 
Henry  Rossell,  Esq.,  Broomhail  Park 
Thomas  Cole,  Esq.,  Cavendish-road 
J.    W.   Travis,   Esq.,    Clarke-street, 

Broomhail 
J.Wortley,Esq.DonHouse,Philadelphia 


Noble  assistance  has  already  been  secured  from  gentlemen  of  influence  in 
Sheffield,  and  it  is  hoped  that  this  case  of  the  orphan  will  commend  itself  to  other 
gentlemen,  whose  kindly  aid  will  be  gratefully  received. 

Will  you  kindly  give  a  donation  to  this  work  ? 

Donations  may  be  paid  into  the  Sheffield  and  Rotherham  Bank  or  to  the 
following  gentlemen : — 


Francis  Hoole,  Esq.,   Solicitor,   Moor 

Lodge,  Sheffield 
Eogers    Broadhead,   Esq.,    6,    Upper 

Hanover-street,  Sheffield 
B.   Nicholson,  Esq.,  Cemetery-road.* 

Sheffield 


John  Webster,  Ex-Mayor 

Eev.  Brewin  Grant,  B.A.,  Broomhail 

Park,  Sheffield 
William  Hargreaves,  Esq.,   Merchant 

Eyre-lane,  Sheffield 

J.Unwin, Esq., Piockingham-st.,  Sheffield 

P.S. — The  undersigned  having  been  requested  to  act  as  treasurer  to  the  building 
fund,  this  office  has  been  accepted  pro  tern,  in  order  to  facilitate  the  important 
bject  in  view. 

BEEWIN  GEANT,  Broomhail  Park,  Sheffield." 

N.B. — The  building  is  nearly  paid  for,  but  many  extra  expenses, 
beyond  the  contract,  were  incurred,  and  the  furnishing  is  not  all 
paid  for. 


Mr.  PAGAN,  Fits-orilliam  street,  Sheffield, 

Collects  for  the  Institution. 


235 

Chapter  XXVI. 
BUILDING  THE  CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCH,  CEMETERY 
ROAD,  AND  RESIGNATION  OF  MY  CHARGE  FOR  A 
TEMPORARY  PUBLIC  MINISTRY,  FOR  SPECIAL 
SUNDAY  SERVICES,  AND  WEEK  NIGHT  LECTURES 
AGAINST  RITUALISM,  RATIONALISM,  and  ROMANISM. 
1860  to  1868. 

Soon  after  my  settlement  in  Sheffield  it  was  considered  desirable 
by  the  denomination  generally  to  erect  new  churches  for  new  dis- 
tricts growing  up  round  the  town.  I  was  recommended  to  lead  in 
this  enterprise,  and  was  promised  the  support  of  the  other  churches  : 
so  went  with  a  very  few  to  found  a  mission  church,  or  entirely  new 
cause.  I  received  great  assistance  from  persons  of  all  denomina- 
tions ;  and  should  say  that  out  of  some  three  thousand  five  hundred 
pounds  raised  during  my  pastorate  for  the  building  fund  at  least  a 
thousand  pounds  was  contributed  by  churchmen. 

A  circular,  sent  round  for  a  second  bazaar,  to  be  held  in  order  to 
advance  towards  the  entire  payment  for  the  edifice,  is  given  here  to 
indicate  the  spirit  in  which  I  conducted  my  ministry  in  relation  to  the 
town  at  large. 

THE  CASE  of  the  Cemetery-road  Congregational  Church,  being  an  Appeal 
by  the  Kev.  Brewin  Grant,  B.A.,to  friends  outside  the  congregation,  to  aid  them 
in  their  present  efforts  to  complete  the  liquidation  of  the  debt  remaining  on  that 
edifice. 

If  we  were  to  draw  a  line  from  Hunter's- bar  down  Ecclesall-road  to  Sheffield- 
moor,  then  turn  round  to  the  right  up  to  Highfield,  passing  a  little  way  up  Shar- 
row-lane,  and  then  turning  to  the  left,  round,  and  including  Nether- edge,  going 
on  lastly  to  Brincliffe-edge  across  to  Hunter's-bar  where  we  started  from,  we 
should  have  an  area  within  which  was  no  place  of  worship  when  the  site  was 
selected  for  our  Church.  Since  then  others  have  happily  joined  in  meeting  the 
necessities  of  this  populous  neighbourhood.  Besides  the  Baptist  Chapel,  built 
almost  simultaneously  with  the  above  Congregational  Church,  two  families  of 
Methodists  have  occupied  Nether-edge,  and  a  National  Episcopal  Church  is  being 
erected  near  Shirle-hill,  by  Kenwood  Park. 

If  any,  as  we  can  scarcely  imagine,  should  think  that  the  whole  burden  of  pro- 
viding religious  instruction  should  be  left  to  the  Episcopal  Church,  the  members 
of  which  are  doing  munificently  in  Sheffield,  it  is  enough  to  say  that  a  variety  of 
denominations  meets  a  variety  of  tastes  and  conditions  in  life,  and  serves  to  keep 
the  Churches  alive  by  the  stimulus  of  a  healthy  competition.  Under  any  one 
Church  the  population  would  go  to  sleep :  but  those  outside  the  National  Church 
serve  at  least  the  purpose  of  the  poor  man  in  a  Scotch  Kirk  who,  while  the 
minister  was  preaching,  amused  himself  with  throwing  peas  at  the  heads  of  the 
sleepers,  and  when  rebuked  from  the  pulpit,  retorted — "  You  go  on  preaching,  I 
will  keep  the  folks  awake."  Or  the  Dissenters  in  general,  in  relation  to  the 
i  2  I* 


National  Church,  may  be  compared  to  that  other  slenderly  endowed  individual 
who,  while  a  good  Scotch  minister  was  conducting  the  service,  would  go  up  into 
the  pulpit  to  assist  him,  and  when  told  that  he  ''must  not  come  there,"  replied 
— "  They  are  a  stiff-necked  generation,  and  require  us  baith."  That  both  are 
required  in  Sheffield,  as  well  as  in  other  places,  is  obvious  enough  ;  regulars  and 
volunteers — the  combined  forces  of  every  brigade — will  not  be  too  much  to  con- 
quer the  ignorance  and  irreligion  which  are  natural  to  all  mankind.  Every  one 
who  contributes  to  the  establishment  and  efficiency  of  any  place  of 
Christian  worship  perpetuates  an  ameliorating  influence,  whose  benefits  are 
incalculable. 

The  minister  of  the  Cemetery  Eoad  Congregational  Church  has  endeavoured  to 
dc  his  part  for  the  general  advantage  as  well  as  for  his  own  congregation.  Besides 
tSn  mission  to  tho  working  classes,  in  which  a  most  rabid  and  infectious  form  of 
popular  infidelity  was  checked  and  almost  annihilated,  he  has,  since  his  settle- 
E&ght  ir  Sheffield,  endeavoured  to  do  his  share  in  the  public  service.  When  there 
was  2  danger  of  an  unhappy  division  of  feeling  between  church  and  chapel  by  an 
untimely  controversy,  he  preached  and  published  and  circulated  extensively,  by 
post,  to  leading  men  of  both  parties,  a  discourse  intended  to  withdraw  attention 
froit  nrrior  differences  to  those  material  truths  and  principles  of  liberty  in  which 
all  Christians  are  concerned,  and  which  are  perilled  as  much  by  our  divisions  and 
estrar  ^ement  of  feeling,  as  by  the  tactics  of  the  common  enemy.  The  title  of 
thn  discourse  was — "  The  Church  :  Her  Dangers  and  Her  Duties:  or,  The  Pro- 
testant Eirenicon." 

When  the  Bradfield  inundation  spread  terror  and  misery  in  our  neighbourhood, 
he  took  the  opportunity  of  printing  and  circulating  gratuitously  a  pamphlet, 
entitled  "  The  Flood  and  its  Lessons."  The  same  was  done  by  him  in  reference 
to  the  unhappy  disclosures  in  connection  with  recents  events,  in  a  pamphlet, 
entitled — "  The  Trade  Outrage  Commission  and  its  Lessons."  These  were  in- 
tended to  disseminate  useful  principles  of  religious  union,  social  kindness,  and  a 
wise  forethought,  together  with  true  ideas  of  political  economy  and  religious 
responsibility. 

It  can  scarcely  be  expected  that  every  one  will  agree  with  every  principle 
advanced  in  these  papers,  a  copy  of  which  as  far  as  they  remain  on  hand  will  be 
sent  with  this  statement;  but  it  is  confidently  anticipated  that  the  general  views 
and  purposes  are  such  as  to  commend  themselves  to  the  considerate  and  in- 
telligent. 

It  should  be  stated  here,  with  thanks,  that  the  author  of  these  pamphlets  has 
been  enabled  to  distribute  gratuitously  many  thousands  of  these  and  other  pro- 
ductions, by  the  aid  of  contributions  from  gentlemen  who  sympathise  with  the 
object.  Though  much  more  has  been  done  in  these  and  other  ways,  than  any 
such  kind  assistance  has  covered ;  and  the  writer  hopes  for  the  future  to  be  still 
further  enabled  to  "  serve  his  generation,"  and  is  gateful  for  such  assistance  as 
may  in  any  way  be  rendered  towards  the  success  of  his  endeavours. 

He  is  especially  concerned  in  the  removal  of  the  debt  on  the  Congregational 
Church,  Cemetery  Boad,  and  will  be  grateful  for  any  assistance  kindly  rendered 
towards  this  object,  the  accomplishment  of  which  will  remove  the  only  hindrance 
to  complete  efficiency  and  extending  usefulness. 

A  Bazaar  will  be  opened  in  connection  with  this  movement  a  little  before 
Whitsuntide  of  1868 ;  contributions  of  money  and  goods  will  be  thankfully 
received  by  the  Rev.  Brewin  Grant,  B.A.,  Broomhall  Park,  Sheffield. 

We  obtained  about  four  hundred  pounds  by  this  second  bazaar, 
in  a  time  of  great  depression  of  trade,  and  were  enabled  to  claim 


237 

another  hundred  pounds  from  the  English  Congregational  Chapel 
Building  Society  which  was  promised  when  we  reached  a  certain 
stage. 

About  the  beginning  of  the  year  1868  much  attention  was  called 
to  the  rapid  growth  of  "  the  Catholic  Revival  in  England."  Several 
clergymen  in  Sheffield  gave  lectures  on  the  subject,  and  I  began 
carefully  to  examine  the  question. 

I  saw  inside  the  church  traitors,  and  outside  enemies,  and  that 
to  "  conquer  an  imperial  race"  was  the  concentrated  scheme  of  the 
sacerdotal  caste. 

I  read  many  books  and  gave  two  lectures  on  the  subject,  and  felt 
deeply  impressed  with  the  necessity  for  some  persons  being,  for  a 
time  at  least,  wholly  disengaged  so  as  to  attend  to  this  matter. 

Although  I  felt  necessitated  to  throw  my  energies  into  this  work, 
I  could  not  at  first  let  it  be  known  to  my  church  and  congregation, 
because  we  were  then  engaged  in  raising  a  bazaar  towards  liquidating 
the  debt  on  the  building,  and  if  my  people  had  known,  many  would 
have  ceased  to  work  ;  and  people  outside,  from  whom  the  greater 
part  must  be  raised,  who  gave  on  personal  grounds,  would  have  felt 
less  interest  in  the  matter. 

I  did,  however,  privately  inform  the  treasurer  of  the  church,  so 
that  he  might  make  arrangements  to  prevent  a  sudden  change  pro- 
ducing confusion  or  disruption.  I  secured  the  services  of  a  late 
student  of  Lancashire  College  as  my  "  occasional  supply,"  and  did 
everything  to  facilitate  his  entrance  early  into  the  pastorate  in  my 
place. 

This  succeeded  ;  and  when  at  the  close  of  the  bazaar  it  came  out 
that  I  was  going  to  leave,  some  were  angry  and  some  in  tears ;  and 
many  in  the  sudden  feeling  would  have  left,  but  I  prevailed  on  most 
to  stay  at  the  church  and  to  secure  the  services  of  the  young 
minister  whom  I  had  introduced. 

THE  REV.  BREWIN  GRANT'S 

ANTI-RITUALISTIC  CAMPAIGN,  &c. 

The  following  account  of  my  resignation  and  farewell  address  is 
adopted  from  the  Sheffield  Daily  Telegraph  of  June  15,  1868. 

Last  evening  the  Rev.  Brewin  Grant,  B.A..  gave  a  public  state- 
ment of  his  reasons  for  entering  into  the  above  line  of  public 
advocacy,  giving  his  reasons  in  the  form  of  a  farewell  address  on 
retiring  from  the  pastorate  of  Cemetery-road  Congragational  church, 
tthich  had  been  built  in  connection  with  his  efforts,  aided  by  a  few 
friends  who  joined  him,  to  raise  a  new  congregation  as  a  mission 
:  3 


238 

church.  Three  thonsand  five  hundred  pounds  had  been  raised 
towards  the  building  fund,  besides  meeting  the  expenses  of  worship, 
though  none  of  the  worshippers  were  rich,  and  only  a  very  few 
commenced  the  enterprise. 

Mr.  Grant  observed  that,    though  leaving  the  office  of  pastor  of 

that  church  in  order  to   carry  on  more  extensive  labours  which  he 

onsidered  absolutely  required,  he   should  still  reside  in  Sheffield, 

where  he  had  so  many  friends,  not  only  in  his  own  congregation 

but  outside  his  own  denomination. 

He  would  not  trouble  his  audience  with  detailed  facts,  which 
accumulated  every  day,  as  to  the  rapid  growth  and  monstrous  cha- 
racter of  the  Catholic  revival,  which  threatened  the  destruction  of 
English  religion  and  liberties  in  order  to  dominate  over  the  world 
in  one  vast  confederation  of  priestcraft.  But  while  not  entering 
into  these  particulars,  which  would  be  more  appropriate  to  lectures 
on  the  subject,  he  could  adopt  the  words  of  Sir  Alfred  Slade,  Bart., 
and  apply  them  to  this  case : — "  My  fellow  countrymen,  you  are  so 
peaceful  and  so  prosperous  that  you  have  not  yet  opened  your  eyes 
to  the  revolution  in  which  you  are  living.  There  are  bloody 
revolutions  and  bloodless  revolutions.  It  is  not  clear  to  my  mind 
which  are  the  least  evil.  Certainly  the  last  admit  and  encourage  a 
much  greater  amount  of  self-deceit  than  the  first.  But  whether 
you  will  or  no,  the  day  of  battle  has  come,  and  you  and  your 
children  cannot  escape  it." 

He  would  put  before  them  in  a  condensed  shape  the  result  of 
extensive  reading  and  observation — the  grounds  for  his  new  form  of 
public  ministry  and  general  advocacy,  which  were  stated  in  the 
following  propositions  : — 

1.  A  determined  and  formidable  movement  is  now  being  made  to  extinguish  and 
overthrow  such  religious  light  and  liberty  as  have  so  long  distinguished  this  land. 

2.  The  movement  has,  by  secret  processes,  gained  considerable  advantage 
and  foothold,  so  that  batteries  formerly  masked  are  now  boldly  opened 

3.  One  in  a  responsible  position  is  reported  to  have  said,  what  certainly 
describes  the  actual  position  : — "  The  High  Church  Ritualists  and  the  followers 
of  the  Pope  had  long  been  in  secret  combination  under  the  guise  of  Libe- 
ralism ;  and  under  the  pretence  of  '  legislating  in  the  spirit  of  the  age'  they 
were  about,  as  they  thought,  to  seize  upon  the  supreme  authority  of  the  realm." 

4.  In  a  meeting  where  Irish  priests  preponderated,  it  was  said  that  it  would 
be  more  true  to  affirm  that  such  a  confederacy  existed  between  English  Libera- 
tionists  and  Irish  Romanists.* 

5.  "  The  English  Church  in  both  its  branches  is  the  key  to  the  position," 
and  the  enemy  has  gained  a  lodgment. 

6.  It  is  only  public  apathy,  founded  on  ignorance  and  aided  by  a  false 
liberality,  that  renders  the  position  of  the  enemy  tenable  and  progressive. 

*  This  turns  out  to  be  the  truth. 


239 

7.  This  apathy  can  be  removed  by  careful,  persistent,  enligbtened,  and  Scrip- 
tural advocacy  of  the  principles  of  religion  and  liberty,  bequeathed  by  our  Lord 
through  his  Apostles,  recovered  by  the  battle  of  the  Reformation,  and  now  again 
endangered  by  what  is  called  "the  Catholic  Kevival "  in  England,  in  which 
'•  Anglican  Jesuits"  are  strenuously  engaged. 

8.  A  great  awakening  of  the  Evangelical  party  in  the  Church  of  England, 
clerical  and  lay,  is  both  a  pledge  of  earnestness  on  their  part  and  an  acknowledg- 
ment, though  tardy,  of  the  crisis  which  is  threatening. 

9.  A  more  general  movement,  independent  of,  but  in  honourable  and  free 
alliance  with,  Evangelical  Episcopalians,  is  also  needed,  in  which  the  "  more 
advanced  Dissenters  "  and  English  Protestants  generally  may  contribute  their 
share,  and  prove  that  while  pseudo -liberalism  can  ally  itself  with  superstition 
and  despotism,  real  liberality  is  allied  to  real  religion,  "  not  as  a  question  of 
party,  but  of  Christ  and  Christianity.'' 

10.  It  is  proposed,  therefore,  that  a  representative  of  this  class,  or  several 
representatives,  as  may  be  feasible,  should  be  devoted  to  the  study  and  popular 
exposition  of  this  question,  by  tongue  and  pen — mastering  the  secret  and 
policy  of  this  conspiracy,  and  awakening  such  public  attention  as  that  people 
shall  be  warned  and  alarmed  before  they  are  beguiled  and  fascinated. 

11.  Such  an  anti-Ritual  advocacy  would  supplement  and  complete  the  efforts 
of  Evangelical  "  Church  Associations,"  and  would  possess  some  advantages 
peculiar  to  itself,  both  in  freedom  of  action  and  as  to  the  force  of  disinterested 
and  independent  testimony,  and  not  the  struggle  of  one  party  for  power  against 
another  party,  as  Erastian  philosophers  might  say  of  Evangelical  Churchmen. 

12.  Many  who  have  means,  but  not  time,  to  enter  into  details  of  such  publie 
questions,  and  yet  have  deep  convictions  and  solicitude  on  the  matter,  would  no 
doubt  gladly  aid  in  the  support  of  such  agency  as  they  could  confide  in,  and 
thus,  as  if  by  deputy,  take  an  efficient  part  in  the  defence  of  all  that  they  hold 
most  dear  and  sacred. 

13.  Money  spent  in  law  is  useful,  as  in  the  late  St.  Alban's  case,  in  which  a 
Ritualistic  judge,  while  abandoning  the  principle  to  find  "room  for  both 
parties," — still  condemned  and  forbade  certain  details  of  Ritualistic  innovations. 

14.  But  money  spent  on  public  advocacy,  to  prepare  the  national  mind  for 
resisting  all  the  encroachments  of  priestcraft,  may  be  more  advantageous  than  even 
building  and  endowing  a  Church ;  for  it  may,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  prevent 
the  misappropriation  of  all  present  and  future  churches. 

15.  In  anticipation  of  some  such  movement,  and  in  faith  that  God's  pro- 
vidence will  secure  friends  to  sustain  the  effort  and  render  it  effective  by  the 
Divine  blessing,  the  accompanying  letter  was  prepared  as  the  draught  of  an 
intended  public  announcement,  and  the  basis  of  the  writer's  resignation  of  his 
present  charge. 

LETTER    OF    RESIGNATION. 

TO  THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCH,  CEMETERY-ROAD. 

Sheffield,  June,  1868. 
Christian  Friends. — For  some  time  I  have  been  impressed  with  the  fact  that 
there  are  certain  public  questions  demanding  more  time  and  thought  than  could 
be  devoted  by  one  who  has  the  prior  and  personal  claims  of  his  own  pastorate, 
especially  if  many  demands  were  made  upon  him,  without  much  organised 
assistance.  "  The  English  Independent,"  during  the  same  period,  contained 
some  suggestions  respecting  a  general  ministry  in  contradistinction  to  an 
exclusive  pastorate,  which  coincided  very  much  with  my  own  feelings  in  favour 


240 

of  some  being  occupied,  at  least  for  a  time,  in  public  -work,  so  as  to  be  able  to 
take  more  special  services,  and  enter  further  into  public  questions  than  is  con- 
sistent with  the  numerous  claims  on  a  settled  pastor.  My  own  mind  has  been 
powerfully  wrought  upon  in  reference  to  one  public  question,  on  which  the 
future  religious  condition  of  England,  humanly  speaking,  greatly  depends — I 
mean  the  partly  clandestine  and  partly  open  attempt,  under  the  cloak  of  Ritual- 
ism,  to  involve  our  nation  in  the  darkness  of  superstition,  and  bind  our  posterity 
in  the  fetters  of  priestcraft. 

I  feel  deeply  and  solemnly  that  we,  as  Dissenters,  are  bound  to  come  to  the 
aid  of  the  Evangelical  party  in  the  Chuch  of  England,  to  prevent  the  citadel  of 
that  Church  being  employed  to  dominate  over  and  enslave  the  country.  From 
our  independent  position  we  can,  in  some  respects,  speak  out  with  greater  force 
and  impartiality  than  is  always  permissible  to  an  Evangelical  clergyman. 

It  is,  therefore,  to  the  study  and  development  of  this  question  of  Ritualism 
that  I  propose  for  a  time  to  devote  my  chief  efforts  in  the  way  of  week-night 
lectures,  while  I  shall  be  open  to  special  services  and  occasional  "  supplies''  in 
any  chapels  the  managers  of  which  may  honour  me  by  invitations  to  such 
services.  My  resignation  of  the  office  of  pastor  among  you,  necessitated  by  the 
above  considerations,  would  have  been  tendered  earlier  but  ior  the  interest  of 
our  Bazaar,  which  might  have  suffered  from  the  intended  change.  I  shall 
continue  to  feel  an  interest  in  your  highest  welfare,  and  doubt  not  you  will 
heartily  respond. 

I  remain  yours  affectionately,  BREWIN    GRANT. 

THE  CHURCH'S  ANSWER  AND  TESTIMONY. 

TO    THE    REV.    BREWIN    GRANT,    B.A. 

Reverend  and  dear  Sir, — At  the  special  Church  meeting  of  the  Cemetery-road 
Congregational  Church,  held  June  10th,  1868,  for  the  purpose  of  considering  the 
propriety  or  otherwise  of  accepting  your  resignation,  it  was  unanimously  resolved 
that  the  members  express  their  deep  regret  that  from  your  convictions  as  to  the 
necessity  of  your  intended  public  work,  they  have  no  alternative  but  to  accept 
your  resignation,  believing  as  they  do  that  nothing  but  a  deep  sense  of  duty  could 
have  induced  you  to  resign  your  office  as  pastor,  and  give  precedence  to  the  im- 
portant undertaking  to  which  you  have  devoted  yourself. 

We  know  well  that  any  system  regarded  by  you  as  delusive,  subversive  of 
morals,  and  fatal  to  the  noblest  instincts  of  humanity,  will  be  dealt  with  by  you  with 
an  unsparing  hand,  never  abandoning  your  right  to  use  persuasion  or  denuncia- 
tion, ridicule  or  philosophy,  wit  or  invective,  eloquence  or  science,  the  treasures 
of  history  or  the  resources  of  genius,  the  amenities  of  art  or  the  severity  of  logic, 
the  ornaments  of  poetry  or  the  maxims  of  experience,  all  which  we  know  you 
regard  as  the  gifts  of  God's  good  providence — intrusted  to  our  reason  to  be  employed 
in  the  defence  of  that  crowning  gift, — His  Holy  Word,  the  palladium  of  our 
liberties  and  the  solid  basis  of  our  hopes  ;  and  you  would  still  regard  yourself  as 
false  to  the  truth  you  hold,  faithless  to  the  minds  of  others  whom  you  ought  to 
wain  and  deJend,  forgetful  of  your  allegiance  to  your  blessed  Lord,  if  you  allowed 
His  kingdom  to  be  invaded  without  employing  the  artillery  of  argument,  and 
sweeping  with  the  battery  of  truth  the  legions  of  the  enemy,  who  menacingly 
march  up  to  the  walls  of  Zion  and  boast  that  they  can  shake  them. 

To  drive  back  and  check  the  incursions  of  the  enemy  is  no  doubt  your  great 
aim  in  the  work  upon  which  you  are  about  to  enter,  and  believing  you  to  poss^  m 
tfvery  intellectual  and  other  necessary  endowments,  we  wish  you  every  success 
It  will  be  impossible  for  those  who  know  the  service  you  rendered  during  ue 


241 

erection  of  the  Church  to  forget  your  untiring  efforts  to  meet  the  financial  re- 
quirements of  the  place.  Your  interest  in  the  Church  has  been  proved  during  the 
late  Bazaar  by  not  making  known  your  intended  resignation  until  it  was  over, 
lest  it  should  suffer  in  any  way.  Many  of  our  friends,  not  wishing  to  lose  your 
services,  have  been  very  anxious  that  a  co-pastor  should  be  obtained,  but  others 
whose  views  are  coincident  with  your  own  thought  it  would  be  to  your  advantage 
if  your  resignation  was  accepted  and  you  were  free  from  any  minor  claims. 

Your  general  liberality,  and  kindness  in  seasons  of  difficulty  and  distress,  will 
never  be  forgotten.  Hoping  that,  although  your  official  connection  with  us  has 
ceased,  we  may  long  be  spared  to  reciprocate  those  friendly  feelings  which  for 
many  years  we  have  enjoyed, 

"We  remain,  on  behalf  of  the  Church, 

THOS.  'BOWER,  1  ~„nTIO 

WILLIAM  BISSETT,    f^^00118- 

He,  with  the  Church,  regretted  his  being  called  away  by  im- 
perative duty,  and  desired  for  his  late  flock  all  spiritual  prosperity. 
They  had  experienced  many  difficulties  and  many  blessings  together, 
and  he  hoped  that  they  were  but  beginning  to  reap  the  fruits  of  past 
labours. 

He  wished  further  to  explain,  for  the  satisfaction  of  his  numerous 
friends,  that  while  his  sole  original  intention  was  to  confine  his 
advocacy  to  the  Ritualistic  and  Rationalistic  movement,  he  had  also 
seen  the  necessity  of  examining  with  closest  scrutiny  the  tendencies 
of  certain  politico-ecclesiastical  changes  as  proposed  in  relation  to 
the  Irish  Church. 

The  same  circumstance  which  awakened  his  grave  suspicion  as  to 
the  possible  ulterior  objects  of  that  proposal  had  also  awakened 
similar  suspicions  in  the  mind  of  the  celebrated  preacher,  the  Rev. 
C.  Spurgeon,  although  that  gentleman  had  at  first  committed  him- 
self determinedly  to  the  side  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  resolutions.  He 
still  sees  that  it  is  necessary  for  Churchmen  and  Dissenters  to  unite, 
in  order  to  demand  that  "  not  one  penny"  of  the  funds  proposed  to 
be  distributed  be  given  to  Roman  Irish  priestly  educational  esta- 
blishments, or  any  other  form  of  deadly  Papal  error. 

Mr.  Gladstone  having  declined  to  give  any  guarantee  in  the  form 
of  a  resolution  on  that  subject,  and  having  even  opposed  such  gua- 
rantees, it  is  only  necessary  that  the  general  public  should  under- 
stand this  point  of  danger,  and  he  (Mr.  Grant)  should  consider  it  a 
part  of  his  public  work  to  make  that  increasingly  understood. 

The  reverend  gentlemen  begged  to  apologise  for  saying  one  word 
as  to  his  own  motives  in  the  undertaking,  which  had  naturally  begun 
to  be  impugned  by  those  who  had  no  other  answer  to  his  argu- 
ments, and  who,  as  a  class,  never  did  give  any  other  answer  than  a 
perversion  of  what  he  said  and  an  imputation  against  his  motives, 


242 

all  in  the  name  of  fairness  and  that  much-abused  phrase,  "  a 
Christian  spirit."  It  was  beneath  him  to  enter  into  controversy 
with  men  who  are  forced  to  descend  to  such  topics,  and  whose  only 
liberality  is  liberality  of  insolence  and  abuse. 

It  had  been  very  generally  and  industriously  reported  —  he 
scarcely  thought  it  was  believed — that  he  was  seeking  ordination  in 
the  Church  of  England.  He  was  not  aware  that  even  this  would 
be  a  sin,  except  in  the  estimation  of  more  liberal-minded  people, 
who  had  a  right  to  differ  from  everybody,  but  felt  that  nobody  had 
a  right  to  differ  from  them.  Still,  he  wished  again  to  say  that  he 
did  not  remember  ever  dreaming  of  such  a  step,  and  certainly  it 
never  occurred  to  him  in  his  waking  moments.  But  wherein  he 
could  co-operate  honourably  with  the  Evangelical  section  of  the 
Church  of  England,  in  defence  of  their  common  Christianity,  he 
did  not  feel  called  upon  to  refrain,  even  though  the  "  English  Inde- 
pendent," which  is  very  much  like  the  Sheffield  one,  had  not  scrupled 
in  its  last  number  to  say  that  ' '  he  wtill  find  it  very  haet>  to  con- 
vince them  of  his  own  sincerity."  Such  insults  he  naturally 
expected  ;  and  his  only  answer  was,  that  they  would  find  it  much 
harder  to  convince  him  that  they  doubted  his  sincerity.  Nor  did  he 
doubt  theirs  ;  he  believed  that  such  persons  were  as  sincere 
tyrants  as  ever  applied  a  thumbscrew,  and  that  the  "  sincerity"  of 
their  tyranny  was  the  most  fatal  judicial  element  in  their  own 
blindness  and  self-conceit.  They  were  not  even  ashamed  of  their 
own  imputations,  which  indicated  the  blessedness  of  the  fact  that 
their  power  was  not  equal  to  their  disposition.  All  this,  however, 
was  but  a  tribute  of  their  fear  to  his  influence ;  and  when  such 
ceased  to  malign  and  began  to  applaud  him,  he  should  fear  that 
he  had  forgotten  his  own  independence,  and  betrayed  the  cause  of 
God's  truth  and  man's  liberty,  to  which  his  whole  life  had  been 
consecrated. 

There  were  two  objections  which  had  been  made  against  his 
course.  One  was  that  he  was  doing  it  for  pay,  and  the  other  was 
that  he  was  doing  it  for  nothing.  One  came  from  friends  and  one 
from  enemies.  The  latter,  who  say  he  does  it  for  pay,  did  not 
believe  what  they  said,  and  themselves  hoped  it  was  not  true  ;  for 
there  is  nothing  that  they  like  so  little  as  to  see  a  minister  well  paid, 
and  nothing  they  like  so  much  as  to  be  well  paid  themselves,  except 
seeing  those  starved  who  work  independently  and  are  not  the  tools 
of  their  party. 

There  is  one  thing  to  be  said  of  such  people,  and  goes  far  to 
soften  anger  into  pity,  namely,  that  they  are  so  little  accustomed  to 


243 

any  generous  impulses  or  heroic  self- sacrifice  that  they  have  lost  the 
capacity  of  seeing  it,  or  at  any  rate  of  openly  acknowleging  it,  and 
to  "level  down"  to  themselves,  are  forced  to  deny  its  reality. 
Accordingly  the  "English  Independent,"  which  trades  on  the  repu- 
tation of  the  British  Standard,  the  last  free  Orthodox  organ  of 
Dissenters,  says  : — "  Mr.  Brewin  Grant's  '  anti-Ritualistic  campaign' 
turns  out,  as  might  be  supposed,  to  be  a  stump  on  behalf  of  the 
Irish  Church."  "Possibly  he  may  convince  the  audiences  he 
addresses  that  he  represents  '  the  more  observant  English  Dis- 
senter ;  '  but  he  will  find  it  very  hard  to  convince  them  of  his  own 
sincerity.  He  best  knows  the  proper  market  for  his  eggs  ;  but  not 
even  this  accession  of  talent  to  Mr.  Disraeli's  company  will  suffice 
to  keep  the  concern  going  beyond  the  present  season."  (June  11, 
1868.)  These  men  have  no  higher  conception  than  the  best  "market  for 
eggs,"  though  they  often  take  them  to  the  wrong  market  after  all, 
and  do  not  get  them  sold,  because  they  are  suspected ;  nor  hatched, 
because  they  are  addled.  Such  writers  and  organs  are  the  disgrace 
of  controversy  and  the  bane  of  liberty.  The  Church  News,  a  cele- 
brated Ritualistic  paper,  from  a  less  dishonourable  motive  says — 
"  It  is  given  out  that  the  Church  Association  has  engaged  the  well- 
known  Congregational  minister,  Mr.  Brewin  Grant,  to  lecture 
against  Ritualism."     This  is  a  mistake,  but  not  a  malicious  one. 

I  have  even  been  asked  by  friends  whether  I  am  not  "  engaged  " 
— promised  payment ;  in  fact,  whether  some  party  has  hired  me,* 
which  no  party  is  rich  enough  to  do  ;  because,  though  some  men, 
judging  from  themselves,  say  "Everyman  has  his  price,"  there 
are  still  those  who  believe  in  God,  and  cannot  afford  to  dispense 
with  their  conscience  for  any  "engagement"  with  "the  kingdoms 
of  the  world  and  the  glory  of  them,"  as  the  reward  of  venality. 

But  then  a  second  objection,  that  of  anxious  friends,  is — "  You 
have  a  family  ;  you  ought  to  have  a  certainty  ;  "  and  to  them  I 
reply — I  wish  no  party  to  be  responsible  for  my  course,  but  desire 
to  obtain  the  personal  sympathy  of  friends  without  involving  any, 
and  without  being  myself  involved,  as  the  mere  agent,  delegate,  or 
hired  advocate  of  any  party,  which  position  might  both  endanger 
my  own  independence  of  thought  and  weaken  the  force  of  my  public 
testimony.  The  undertaking  of  the  enterprise  is  in  no  way  depen- 
dent on  such  assistance,  being  morally  necessitated  by  the  growing 
and  irrepressible  conviction  that  it  is  demanded  by  "  the  signs  of 
the  times  ;"  but  such  aid  would  nevertheless  greatly  help  in  the 

*  The  Rev.  David  Loxton  put  this  question  to  me  just  before  cutting  me 
for  not  joining  in  Gladstone  worship. 


244 

comfort  and  efficiency  of  carrying  ont  the  work,  and  especially  in 
the  pioneer  work  of  making  the  mission  known  and  understood,  as 
well  as  in  the  careful  study  requisite  for  entering  upon  it  fully  armed. 

I  believe,  moreover,  that  He  Who  calls  to  this  work — for  I  am 
constrained  to  regard  it  in  this  light — will  prepare  the  way  and 
provide  the  means  in  answer  to  confident  waiting  and  earnest  effort ; 
nor  do  I  expect  to  be  without  the  aid  of  the  fervent  supplications  of 
those  who  desire,  above  all  things,  that  the  truth  of  God  may  be 
vindicated,  and  His  name  glorified  in  the  revival  and  increasing 
prevalence  of  pure  and  undefiled  religion,  as  the  security  for  all 
other  blessings  on  which  the  liberty  and  happiness  of  mankind 
depend.  I  cannot  think  that  God  will  forsake  England,  after  all 
that  He  has  done  for  it ;  and  I  believe*  that  if  we  are  not  utterly 
faithless  He  will  not  permit  this  land,  which  should  be  the  centre 
of  light  and  liberty  to  all  others,  to  become  what  some  now  strive 
to  make  it — the  centre  and  stronghold  of  priestly  domination.  The 
rev.  gentleman  continued : — Any  who  could  aid  him  in  his  work  by 
securing  the  opportunity  of  giving  lectures,  or  holding  special 
Sunday  services,  or  in  any  other  way,  would  receive  his  hearty 
thanks.  To  them  he  said,  in  words  formerly  employed — be  sure 
of  this,  that  the  English  Church  is  the  key  to  the  position  foi 
mastering  England ;  it  is  already  sapped  and  mined,  and  the 
enemy  is  inside,  and  the  fight  is  going  on. 

Shall  we  not  adopt  some  means  to  arouse  the  majesty  of  Britain 
to  abate  this  danger,  and  leave  to  our  children  the  same  inheritance 
of  God's  truth  and  man's  freedom  as  we  received  from  the  hand  of  a 
beneficent  Providence  ?  As  for  himself,  he  could  only  utter  the  reply 
of  the  prophet,  when  in  Israel's  apostacy,  the  inquiry  was,  "  Whom 
shall  we  send?"  In  this  way  he  would  be  consistent  with  that 
prayer  which  he  lately  publicly  offered : — Would  to  God  that  He 
would  raise  up  some  whose  lips  are  touched  with  a  live  coal  from  off 
the  altar,  who  should  stand  out  and  vow  before  Him  Whose  gospel 
is  insulted — that  every  energy  they  possess,  all  diligence  of  study 
they  can  use,  all  heroic  zeal  which  they  can  evoke,  all  eloquence  of 
tongue  or  pen  they  can  reach,  every  power  of  body,  soul,  and  spirit 
shall  be  consecrated  to  this  great  cause  of  religion  and  liberty 
against  superstition  and  despotism,  to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father, 
by  the  sanctific  ation  of  the  Spirit,  and  in  honour  of  Jesus  Christ, 
the  one  only  Priest — that  Great  Shepherd  and  Bishop  of  our  souls. 

The  address  was  listened  to  throughout  with  profound  attention 
The  sacred  edifice  was  crowded  by  a  large  and  respectable  congrega- 
tion, outside  the  pews  being  also  occupied.  We  believe  some  had 
to  return  on  account  of  their  not  being  able  to  obtain  admission. 


245 

THE    LEY.    BEE  WIN    GRANT'S 

ANTI-RITUALISTIC    CAMPAIGN, 

And  General  Ministry  in  defence  of  the  English  Reformation  against 

the  so-called   Catholic  Movement. 
I. — Which  Side  shall  we  Join:    The  Ritualists  or  the  Evan- 
gelicals ?    AND    WHICH  SIDE  IS  THE  PRAYER-BOOK  ON  ? 

Containing  a  Plea  for  united  action  on  the  part  of  Christians  of  all  denominations 

against  Superstition  and  Despotism. 
This  Lecture  can  be  had  as  a  specimen,  by  any  one  sending  his  address  and  six 

stamps  to  the  Author. 


II. — A  Defence  of  the  English  Reformation  against  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Littledale's  Ritualistic  "  Innovations." 

III. — The  Sacramental  System:  or  the  Mystery  of  Iniquity. 

Showing  how  the  Temptation  of  our  Lord  in  the  Wilderness,  is  repeated  ;  to 
tempt  His  people,  by  the  same  misuse  of  Scripture,  to  seek  supernatural 
Bread,  to  follow  Sensationalism  in  Religion,  and  to  commit  Idolatry,  in 
falling  down  to  worship  the  Host  and  the  Priest. 

IV. — The  Purple  Robe  :  or  Ritualism  a  Mockery  of  Christ  and 
Christlinity. 

With  Criticisms  on  the  Rev.  Mr.  Legett's  Lecture  on  Christian  Worship, 
wherein  he  advocates  Objective  in  opposition  to  Subjective  Worship ; 
that  is,  a  sensuous  and  idolatrous  Ritual,  instead  of  worshipping  "  in 
Spirit,  and  in  Truth." 

Y. — The  Shepherd  of  Salisbury  Plain. 

Or  an  Analysis  of  the  Bishop  of  Salisbury's  "  charge,"  at  his  "  Triennial 
Visitation." 

VI. — The  English  Church  the  Key  to  the  Position  for  the 
Mastery  of  England. 

N.B. — The  Rev.  Brewin  Grant  undertakes  to  give  the  above  Lectures  in  con- 
nection with  any  Association  of  Christians,  or  any  individuals  interested 
in  the  subject ;  but  not  as  the  Agent,  Representative,  or  Advocate 
of  any  Party  or  Society. 

Asiocidental  to  the  above  Lectures  and  Mission,  he  is  also  prepared  to  give  a 
Lecture  on 

The  Irish  Church — an  English  Dissenter's    View  of  it; 
or  Mr.  Gladstone's   Missing  Link.* 

It  is  desired  that,  on  the  occasion  of  delivering  this  Lecture,  hauf-an-hour 
should  be  permitted  for  Questions  and  Objections;  on  condition  that 
opponents  listen  moderately  quietly  to  the  Lecturer's  statements. 

*  The  title  of  this  lecture  is  now  changed  to — "  Liberationists  Betray  Dissent,  Rob  the 
Church,  Favour  Popery,  an  I  Destroy  Liberty."  This  should  be  given  in  every  large  town. 
It  has  been  given  in  Sheffield  and  Birkenhead.  To  the  above  may  be  added — "Nuns  and 
Nunneries.     Should  Conventual  Institutions  be  under  Government  Inspection  ?" 


246 

Arrangements  can  also  be  made  with  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations, 
Mutual  Improvement  Societies,  and  Literary  Institutes,  for 
Lectures  suitable  to  the  objects  of  those  institutions. — A  list  of  Lectures 
on  application. 

Ministers,  Sunday  School  Teachers,  and  others,  are  also  respectfully 
informed  that  the  Kev.  Brewin  Grant,  B.A.,  having  for  a  time  resigned 
a  private  pastorate  for  the  above  public  work,  is  open  to  form  engage- 
ments for  Anniversary  and  other  Special  Services;  many  invitations 
to  which  he  has  been  hitherto  obliged  to  decline,  and  in  some  cases,  from 
accumulated  engagements,  has  been  driven  to  neglect  applications,  to 
which  now  he  will  be  able  to  pay  immediate  attention. 

It  is  desirable,  as  far  as  possible,  that  arrangements  should  be  made  for  "Week- 
night  Lectures  in,  or  near  to,  the  locality  in  which  the  Sunday  Services 
are  held. 

Broomhall  Park,  Sheffield. 


Chapter    XXYII. 
THE  REV.  GENERAL  PICTON,  B.A.,  and  HIS  LEICESTER 
BRIGADE    OF   VOLUNTARY     ROUGHS,     AIDED    BY 
LIBERAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  NEWSPAPER  EDITORS,— 
LEADER,  BAINES,  MIALL,  TURBERVILLE  &  Co. 

"When  I  was  at  Carmarthen, — where  a  person  named  "  Joseph," 
who  was  drunk  and  interrupted  my  lecture,  and  then  wrote  a  false 
account  of  it,  which  Messrs.  Leader  and  Tuebeeville  accepted  and 
repeated,  but  which  a  gentleman  who  was  sober  corrected  in  the 
Carmarthen  Journal, — I  walked  up  a  long  street  till  I  came  to  an 
obelisk  celebrating  Picton,  and  enumerating  the  battles  in  which  he 
fought  for  his  country. 

The  "  Picton"  at  the  head  of  this  chapter  is  another  person  who 
headed  a  Leicester  mob  of  liberal  dissenters,  invited  by  the  "  Free 
Press,"  probably  at  Mr.  Picton's  dictation,  to  cry  me  down,  which 
feat  thc}T  celebrated  as  a  victory  of  liberalism — which  means 
rowdyism.  There  never  could  be  a  public  meeting  on  the  other 
side  if  such  liberals  could  prevent  it. 

Mr.  Picton's  friends  not  only  cried  me  down,  interrupting  me  for 
the  space  of  an  hour  and  a-half,  when  we  had  paid  for  and  engaged 
the  hall, — and  they  had  no  more  right  to  interrupt  and  prevent 
speaking  than  they  had  to  pick  pockets ; — but  they  also,  perhaps  at 
his  instigation,  came  to  me  personally,  and  accused  me  of  having 
had  my  education  paid  for  me  by   my   late   friend   Dr.    Legge, 


247 

respecting  which  a  corset  dealer  in  Leicester  market,  an  agent  for 
the  party,  insulted  me  in  the  most  liberal  manner. 

The  suggestion  was  that  I  was  ungrateful  in  turning  against 
people  who  had  educated  me  in  the  faith  that  I  should  turn  out  a 
Gladstonian. 

This  Mr.  Pictox,  who  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Union 
committee,  demanded  that  my  chairman,  A.  Pell,  Esq.,  now  M.P. 
for  South  Leicestershire,  though  announced  on  the  placards,  should 
vacate  the  chair  before  I  should  be  allowed  to  give  my  lecture. 

I  acknowledge  that  I  had  formerly  proved  that  Mr.  Pictox  had 
forsaken  the  truth  once  believed  amongst  us  ;  for  in  two  Bicentenary 
discourses  on  the  words  "  That  they  without  us  should  not  be 
made  perfect," — he  showed  that  Christ  and  His  apostles  were  not 
perfect  without  him  ;  that  our  trust  deeds  of  our  chapels  should  be 
made  of  india-rubber,  to  admit  any  growth  of  thought,  as  they  call 
the  erratic  conceit  of  improvers  on  Inspiration. 

But  if  Mr.  Pictox  improves  on  the  apostles  he  stops  at  Mr. 
Gladstoxe  ;  and  while  claiming  liberty  to  differ  from  the  gospel  he 
should  preach,  does  not  permit  me  to  differ  from  him. 

I  paid  a  second  visit  to  Leicester,  and  had  a  ticket  meeting  to 
keep  out  the  roughs  ;  at  which  time  Mr.  Picton  was  invited  to  a  free 
debate,  in  which  his  own  lambs  should  be  muzzled,  and  only  the 
speakers  be  allowed  to  speak. 

He  loftily  declined  the  honour,  as  not  being  willing  to  "  come 
into  personal  contact"  with  me ;  though,  as  I  explained  to  a  large 
audience,  he  need  not  have  come  any  closer  than  when  he  mounted  the 
platform  with  his  yelping  pack  at  his  heels.  They  can  well  master 
you  if  they  can  stop  you ;  but  all  of  them  together  neither  could 
answer  me  nor  report  honestly  what  I  said.  The  right  of  public 
meetings  ought  to  be  settled  by  parliament,  and  every  one  inter- 
rupting contrary  to  the  rules  of  the  chairman,  by  the  printed 
conditions  of  the  placards,  should  be  expelled  by  the  police  as  a 
public  nuisance.  Mr.  Roebuck  nearly  lost  his  life  by  liberal  rowdies 
in  Sheffield,  hustling  him  in  one  of  his  own  meetings,  and  mobbing 
him  outside  ;  on  which  Mr.  Leadek,  a  Congregational  committee- 
man, observed  in  his  paper  to  the  effect  "that  no  man  more 
righteously  incurred  public  indignation." 

These  are  the  disgraceful  principles  and  proceedings  to  which  I 
was  exposed,  the  most  unmitigated  ruffianism,  physical  and  literary, 
that  ever  trampled  liberty  under  foot. 

Every  falsehood  was  secretly  or  publicly  affirmed,  to  make  Dis- 
senters close  their  ears  and  to  discard  one  who,  if  wrong,  was  open 


248 

to  an  answer,  and  always  asked  for  it,  and  never  got  it.  I  was 
seeking  for  ordination  in  the  Church,  I  had  offered  my  services  to 
the  Liberation  Society  for  five  hundred  pounds,  and  been  rejected  ; 
I  then  sold  myself  to  the  Church,  and  in  the  first  meeting  I  attended 
was  asked  how  much  I  got  while  a  minister,  and  how  much  now 
from  the  Church  Association.  This  was  heard  by  ministers  and  not 
rebuked. 

Mr.  Leader,  or  some  one  else  from  Sheffield,  sent  down  to  the 
Independent  and  Baptist  ministers  at  Haverfordwest,  that  I  per- 
mitted my  wife  and  family  to  go  to  the  Rev.  J.  Burbidge's  church, 
and  that  my  own  church  was  just  on  the  point  of  turning  me  out, 
that  the  place  was  getting  hot  for  me,  on  account  of  my  opposition 
to  Mr.  Gladstone. 

These  men  did  not  state  this  as  an  accusation  of  my  Church  for 
its  supposed  bigotry,  but  as  a  proof  and  reward  of  my  wickedness. 
The  ministers  I  refer  to  are  a  Mr.  Long  and  a  Mr.  Dr.  Davies  of  Haver- 
fordwest. At  Llanelly,  a  Baptist  minister,  with  two  or  three  others, 
headed  a  meeting,  tickets  having  been  got  in  the  lump  by  the  liberal 
committee,  and  grossly  insulted  me,  and  left  a  mob  at  the  door, 
of  their  followers,  to  wait  till  I  went  out.  I  let  them  cool  their  heels 
for  two  hours.  A  clergyman's  position  in  Wales  and  other  places 
was  often  intolerable  :  they  lived  in  a  state  of  siege,  and  were 
coarsely  insulted;  the  Rev.  Bury  Capel,  M.A.,  of  Abergavenny,  was 
to  be  throw7n  into  a  horse-pond  if  he  took  me  to  the  lecture  ;  and  so 
much  were  the  friends  of  Protestantism  afraid,  that  the  committee 
proposed  giving  up  the  lecture  but  Mr.  Capel,  who  was  as  courageous 
as  he  was  modest  and  gentlemanly,  would  not  succumb,  and  the 
meeting  was  held.  Another  excellent  clergyman,  the  Rev.  D. 
Howell,  of  Cardiff,  was  denounced  in  placards  of  the  most, 
unfair  character,  even  to  quoting  his  translation,  when  a  youth, 
of  some  Dissenting  publication. 

A  Baptist  minister,  named  Young,  at  Abergavenny,  obtruded 
himself  upon  me  at  an  hotel,  to  say  that  he  was  disappointed  in  not 
hearing  me  on  a  previous  occasion,  and  when  asked  to  hear  me  in 
a  few  days,  immediately  got  out  a  placard,  as  many  others  had  done, 
to  malign  me  as  a  purchased  renegade  ;  and  in  reply  to  a  note,  in 
which  I  offered  him  a  long  space  to  criticise  my  lecture,  wrote  to 
say,  that  when  I  had  actually  gone  into  the  church  and  no  longer 
appeared  under  false  colours,  he  would  condescend  to  debate  the 
question  with  me.* 

*  The  Saturday  and  Sunday  bef ore  this  Abergavenny  lecture  I  stayed  with  the  able 
and  exoellent  clergyman  of  Llanover,  the  Rev.  Joshua  Evans. 


249 

This  kind  of  insolence  and  ignorance  greeted  me  frequently,  and 
men  pretended  not  to  know  my  position,  as  the  Dissenting  papers 
also  wilfully  falsified  it,  in  order  that  Dissenters  might  be  prejudiced. 

What  offended  these  men  most  was,  that  while  like  my  former 
friend,  the  Rev.  David  Loxton,  they  could  challenge  clergymen 
on  state- church  principles,  they  could  not  deal  with  a  Dissenter 
who  knew  all  their  tactics,  despised  their  policy,  and  exploded 
the  liberal  trick  that  made  Dissenters  the  dupes  of  Manning, 
Cullen,  &  Co. 

A  liberation  agent  asked  a  friend  of  mine,  who  was  himself  a 
Gladstonian,  how  I  was  paid  ?  and  when  told  "  that  is  the  last 
thing  my  friend  Mr.  Grant  thinks  of,"  said — "Well,  he  is  a  mystery 
to  me:"  for  the  free  spontaneous  defence  of  what  a  man  considers 
the  truth,  to  his  own  injur}r  and  loss,  is  a  "  mystery  "  to  many. 

As  it  was  foretold  to  me,  before  I  began,  that  I  should  lose  my 
preaching  if  I  opposed  Mr.  Gladstone,  so  it  turned  out,  and  four 
sabbaths  for  which  I  was  specially  engaged,  were  thrown,  on  my 
hands,  on  the  ground  that  I  did  not  go  against  the  Irish  Church. 

The  persistent  misrepresentations  of  the  Liberationists  and  Con- 
gregational Unionists  have  prevented  me  obtaining  a  preaching 
engagement  since ;  and  the  tyranny  of  the  Union  has  closed,  as  far 
as  it  can,  the  Congregational  pulpit  against  me  for  the  future. 

The  illegal  act  of  "ministerial  deposition  and  excommunication" 
perpetrated  on  me  by  the  Congregational  Union  will,  I  hope,  be 
expounded  in  a  court  of  justice  which  recognizes  the  rules  of  any 
society  as  a  contract  with  its  members ;  but  to  contest  such  a  point 
which  will  be  comparatively  short  and  simple,  will  require  the 
pecuniary  aid  of  friends  who  are  opposed  to  arbitrary  power. 

There  is  not  a  man  in  all  the  Liberation  society's  ranks  that  has 
lifted,  or  will  lift,  up  his  voice  against  this  slyest — most  offensive  and 
injurious — act  of  persecution.  The  secretary  of  the  Liberation 
society,  Mr.  Carvell  Williams,  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational 
Inquisitorial  Committee. 

Instead  of  Dissent  laying  down,  as  was  its  duty,  a  model  of 
freedom  and  purity  on  which  the  Church  if  disestablished  could  be 
partly  formed,  it  stands  as  a  warning  of  the  base  and  servile  ends 
to  which  the  loud  professions  of  liberty  may  be  prostituted. 

The  same  is  true  of  our  semi-religious  newspapers  of  the  liberal 
caste.  The  editor,  of  the  Sheffield  Independent,  who  is  a  "country 
member"  of  the  "rattening"  committee  of  the  Congregational  Union, 
prepared  the  way  for  their  tyranny  by  a  wilful  falsification  of  a 
testimonial  into  a  libel  by  inuendo. 


250 

The  falsified  statement  was  as  follows  : — 

"  A  meeting  of  the  Cemetery  Eoad  Congregational  Church,  held  en 
"Wednesday  eTening,  unanimously  accepted  with  a  polite  expression 
of  regret  the  resignation  of  the  Eev.  Brewin  Grant. 
This  appeared  first  in  the  Sheffield  and  Rotherham  Independent,  June  13, 1868. 
It  was  a  puee  fabrication  of  Mr.  Eobert  Leader,  the  editor  of  that  paper, 
or  fabricated  at  his  instigation,  or  by  his  responsible  agents,  contrary  to  the 
plain  truth  of  an  official  communication,  written,  signed,  and  taken  to  the  Inde- 
pendent office  by  Mr.  "William  Bissett,  of  Broomgrove,  Sheffield,  treasurer  and 
deacon  of  my  church. 

This  is  the  original  notice  : — 

The  Eev.  Brewin  Grant,  B.A. — At  a  Church  Meeting  of  the  Ceme- 
tery Boad  Congregational  Church,  held  on  Wednesday  evening  it  was 
unanimously  resolved,  that  the  church  regretted  that  in  consequence 

Of     MR.     GRANT'S    UNCHANGEABLE     CONVICTION    OF   THE    NECESSITY    OF 

his  public  work  in  relation  to  Bitualism  and  Bomanism,  they  were 
obliged  to  lose  his  services  :  and  that  a  memorial,  expressive  of 
their  regret  be  prepared  and  presented  to  him.     Mr.   Grant  preaches 
his  farewell  sermon  to-morrow  evening. 
This  true  account  appeared  in  the  Sheffield  Daily  Telegraph  June  13, 18C8. 
Mr.  Leader  was  furnished  with  the  same,  in  the  same  hand-writing,  but  he  chose 
to  falsify  the  news  in  order  to  furnish  an  untruth  for  his  few  semi-denominational 
and  semi-religious  "  Exchanges,"  such  as  the  Nonconformist  which  quoted  it.  and 
would  never  correct  it,  but  adds  more  falsehoods  since :  as,  that  I  am  a  State- 
Church  lecturer,  which  the  English  Independent  with  equal  liberality  endorses, 

though    BOTH   EDITORS    KNOW   BETTER. 

The  same  libel  having  been  inserted  in  the  Leeds  Mercury,  I  sent  the  true 
statement  with  a  private  note  expressing  my  confidence  that  Mr.  Baines  would 
correct  the  injurious  report  referred  to,  but  I  was  mistaken  ;  the  editors  of  that 
paper  did  not  think  it  was  "  an  injurious  report,"  for  Mr.  Baines  also  is  a 
"  country  member"  of  the  Union  Committee! 

"  Mr.  Gladstone's  '  suspensory  bill '  suspended  honour,  and  truth,  and  courtesy; 
and  his  semi-religious  defenders  are  obliged  to  asperse  any  independent  Dissenter, 
lest  their  readers  should  see  through  their  trick  and  their  partizanship,  in  which, 
from  their  one  idea  of  anti-state  churchism,*  they  blindly  sell  their  country's 
religion  and  liberties  to  those  who  use  them  and  despise  them.  But  Dissenters 
are  beginning  to  see  through  it,  and  when  they  do  use  their  eyes  they  will  under- 
stand the  truthful  character  of  their  scrupulous  seini-religious  Gladstonian  editors. 


Chapter  XXVIII. 

WHAT   MR.   GLADSTONE   SAID  OF  ME,  AND   WHAx 

I  SAID  IN  REPLY,  TO  HIM. 

During  my  lecture  on  the  Irish  Church — "  An  English  Dissenter's 
view  of  it  " — all  others  having  failed  to  answer,  Mr.  Gladstone  was 
appealed  to,  and  instead  of  getting  to  learn  intelligently  what  I  said, 


*  Which  they  have  abandoned  in  practice  and  principle  to  receive  State  pay  for 
Denominational  Bchools. 


251 

he  wrote  a  confirmation  of  my  leading  argument.  This  being  pnt 
round  the  liberal  papers,  and  gloried  in  as  "  the  Hey.  Brewin 
Glant  Extinguished,"  I  at  last  wrote  and  circulated  very  exten- 
sively the  following,  which  is  still  useful. 

MR.    GLADSTONE    AND    THE    REV.    EREWTN    GRANT,    B.A. 

The  Rev.  Brewin  Grant,  B.A.,  presents  his  compliments  to  the 
Hon.  W.  E.  Gladstone,  and  begs  most  respectfully  to  call  his  atten- 
tion to  a  letter  lately  going  the  round  of  the  papers,  purporting  to 
be  Mr.  Gladstone's  answer  to  the  Rev.  Brewin  Grant's  lectures  on 
the  Irish  Church. 

Mr.  Grant  would  rejoice,  for  Mr.  Gladstone's  sake,  to  find  the 
letter  a  forgery,  but  fears — from  other  acknowledged  instances — 
that  it  is  only  another  specimen  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  epistolary  con- 
tributions to  electioneering  literature,  to  be  classed  with  that 
honourable  gentleman's  East  Worcestershire  letter,  and  his  curious 
reply  to  the  Rev.  A.  A.  Rees,  of  Sunderland. 

Mr.  Gladstone's  latest  development  of  this  kind,  as  stated  in  the 
Nonconformist,  October  7th,  the  English  Independent,  October  8th, 
the  Sheffield  Daily  Telegraph,  October  3rd,  the  Yorkshire  Post  and 
Leeds  Intelligencer,  October  1st,  is  here  given  verbatim  : — 

Mr.  Gladstone  on  Irish  Disendowment. — On  Monday  evening 
week  a  public  meeting  was  held  at  Ilkestone,  when  a  lecture  was 
delivered  by  the  Rev.  W.  Mitchell  on  the  Irish  Church,  in  reply  to 
one  given  on  the  previous  Tuesday  evening  by  Mr.  Brewin  Grant. 
The  secretary  of  the  liberal  committee,  Mr.  Wright  Lissett,  read  a 
letter  he  had  received  from  Mr.  Gladstone,  in  reply  to  one  addressed 
to  him  on  the  subject  of  Mr.  Grant's  lecture.  The  letter  was  as 
follows  :— "Hawarden,  North  Wales,  Sept.  27,  1868.— Sir,— I  feel 
a  cordial  interest  in  your  Derbyshire  elections,  alike  on  account  of 
your  candidates,  of  the  abusive  attacks  which  have  been  made  on 
that  wise  and  excellent  man  the  Duke  of  Devonshire,  and  of  the 
revolutionary  doctrines  concerning  property  which  appear  to  have 
been  put  forth,  under  Conservative  auspices,  in  your  quarter. 
Mr.  Brewin  Grant  requires  no  reply  from  me,  nor  (I  should  think) 
much  from  any  one,  lor  I  see  he  vehemently  condemns  me  because 
I  refused  outright  to  vote  for  Mr.  Aytoun's  motion.  That  was  a 
motion  which  pledged  the  legislature  to  give  nothing  to 
Roman  Catholics,  but  left  it  free  to  give  to  Unitarians,  Jews, 
Mahometans,  and  Mormons.  Mr.  Brewin  Grant  seems  to  think 
differently  from  the  thousands  of  his  brethren  who  have  cheered  me 
on  by  their  approval.     As  he  has,  no  doubt,  a  respect  for  minorities, 


252 

I  recommend  to  him  and  to  you  the  excellent  charge  of  the  Bishop 
of  Fredericton,  in  New  Brunswick,  who  has  been  disestablished,  and 
says,  '  I  would  not  wish  it  otherwise.'  There,  too,  he  describes 
the  Koman  Catholics  as  the  most  numerous  body  of  Christians. — I 
remain,  W,  E.  Gladstone." 

On  this  attempt  to  answer,  or  seem  to  answer,  his  lectures,  the 
Rev.  Brewin  Grant  observes, — 

1.  Mr.  Gladstone  should  have  stated  what  it  was  that  he  pro- 
fessed to  reply  to,  and  through  what  medium  of  information  he 
had  qualified  himself  to  honour  "  Mr.  Brewin  Grant"  by  name,  and 
in  so  courteous  a  style.  "Was  it  the  Ilkestone  liberal  committee's 
representations  that  Mr.  Gladstone  replied  to  ? 

2.  It  would  be  inferred  from  Mr.  Gladstone's  letter,  that  the 
Rev.  Brewin  Grant  had  been  advancing  some  "  revolutionary  doc- 
trines" respecting  the  Duke  of  Devonshire's  share  in  Irish  Church 
property,  which  Mr.  Gladstone  is  too  just  to  sequestrate.  No  doubt 
this  is  a  tender  point,  but  Mr.  Gladstone  should  not  have  referred 
to  it,  since  the  Rev.  Brewin  Grant  chivalrously  omitted  attacking 
the  weak  place  ;  and  was  innocent  of  any  reference  to,  much  less 
any  "  abusive  attacks  on,  that  wise  and  excellent  man  the  Duke  of 
Devonshire,"  whose  large  "vested  interests"  in  Irish  Church  pro- 
perty, in  tithes  and  patronage,  would  have  been  better  defended  by 
Mr.  Gladstone's  silence. 

3.  When  Mr.  Gladstone  said — "Mr.  Brewin  Grant  requires  no 
answer  from  me,  nor  (I  should  think)  much  from  any  one,"  he  gave 
a  good  reason  for  not  writing  his  letter,  and  also  a  sly  rebuke  to 
"  the  Rev.  Wm.  Mitchell,  and  Mr.  Wright  Lissett,  the  secretary  of 
the  liberal  committee,"  for  their  pains  in  getting  Mr.  Gladstone 
and  Mr.  Wfright  to  aid  in  this  work  of  supererogation.  It  should 
however  be  admitted  that  the  qualifying  word  "  much,"  is  the  usual 
"suspensory"  style  that  leaves  open  a  possible  defence  of  a  little 
reply,  but  not  "much,"  which  latter  is  not  "much"  expected  by 
the  humble  individual  whom  Mr.  Gladstone  condescends  to  notice 
even  in  this  little  way.  Certainly  it  is  true  that  "  Mr.  Brewin  Grant 
requires  no  reply  from  Mr.  Gladstone,"  never  having  asked  for  such 
a  thing,  and  having  no  right  to  demand  it ;  but  why  Mr.  Gladstone 
should  inform  the  world  of  this  simple  circumstance  "requires" 
some  explanation. 

4.  The  reason  for  Mr.  Gladstone  saying  that  "Mr.  Grant 
requires  no  answer  from  him,  nor  much  from  any  one,"  is  a  curiosity  : 
— "  for  I  see  he  vehemently  condemns  me  because  I  refused 
outright  to   vote  for  Mr.   Aytoun's  motion."      What    "outright" 


'253 

means,  in  tons  case,  is  not  apparent :  but  when  Mr.  Gladstone 
"refused  outright,"  he  betrayed  the  Liberationists,  and  showed 
that  he  "refused  outright "  their  professed  doctrine  of  impartial 
disendowment ;  and  as  the  Church  Times,  May  16,  observed,  made 
up  for  his  forced  abandonment  of  Maynooth,  by  leaving  himself 
"  perfectly  at  liberty  to  give  the  Roman  Catholics  an  endowment  of 
ten  times  the  amount." 

Mr.  Gladstone  may  see  this  argued,  under  the  head  of  "  the 
testing  point"  in  a  pamphlet  entitled,  "  Gladstone  and  Justice  to 
Ireland :  The  Liberal  cry  examined  on  Liberal  principles,"  by  the 
Eev.  Brewin  Grant. 

5.  The  fatal  point  in  Mr.  Gladstone's  letter  is  the  account 
which  he  gives  of  Mr.  Aytoun's  motion.  He  says — "  That  was  a 
motion  which  pledged  the  legislature  to  give  nothing  to  the 
Roman  Catholics,  [namely,  out  of  the  Protestant  Church  fund] : 
but  left  it  [the  legislature]  free  to  give  to  Unitarians,  Jews, 
Mahometans,  and  Mormans."  The  first  part  of  the  sentence  vin- 
dicates Mr.  Grant's  argument,  and  the  second  insults  Mr.  Gladstone's 
allies.  For  what  Mr.  Grant  argued  was,  that  Mr.  Aytoun  wished 
impartially  to  disendow  all;  but  Mr.  Gladstone  wished  to  disen dow 
the  Protestant  Church  in  order  to  endow  the  Romanists  with  the 
proceeds  ;  and  that  honourable  gentleman  admits  it,  in  saying  that 
he  "refused  outright  to  vote  for  Mr.  Aytoun's  motion,"  "which 
pledged  the  legislature  to  give  nothing  [out  of  the  Irish  Church 
funds]  to  the  Roman  Catholics."    Therefore,  Mr.  Gladstone's  object 

Was,  A  TRANSFERENCE  OF  ENDOWMENTS,  NOT  THEIR  REMOVAL  I  accor- 
dingly, he  "  refused  outright  to  vote  for  Mr.  Aytoun's  motion" 
"which  pledged  the  legislature"  against  this  transference  of 
property. 

G  But  in  the  next  place,  Mr.  Gladstone  having  admitted  what 
he  was  interested  in  contradicting,  namely,  that  he  opposed  strenu- 
ously a  measure  that  would  have  prevented  Roman  Catholics  having 
IrisL  Church  property  added  to  their  large  taxation  grants  for 
education,  goes  on  to  state  that  "  this  motion  pledged  the  legis- 
lature to  give  nothing  [of  the  confiscated  estate]  to  the  Roman 
Catholics,  but  left  it  free  to  give  to  Unitarians,  Jews,  Mahometans, 
and  Mormons." 

What  will  the  Unitarians  say  to  this  courteous  classification  of 
Mr.  Gladstone's  most  ardent  and  enlightened  admirers,  as  if  the 
eery  idea  of  their  sharing  in  educational  grants  from  Irish  Church 
funds  would  outrage  the  feeliogs  of  the  country  ?  What  will  his 
Jewish  friend  Mr.  Alderman  Solomons  say,  who  is  keeping  his  bed 


254 

warm  as  a  sleeping  partner  at  Greenwich,  in  case  he  is  not  allowed 
"  to  sleep  here  to-night"  by  the  inhospitable  Sonth-west  Lancashire 
hotel  keeper  ?*  Mr.  Solomans  gives  himself  out  as  the  one  who  em- 
bodies in  his  own  person  civil  and  religious  equality,  and  yet  he  is 
among  the  people  whom  it  is,  by  implication,  monstrous  to  allow  to 
participate  in  the  sequestrated  revenues  of  the  Irish  Church  ! 

7.  Whether  Mr.  Aytoun's  motion  would  have  permitted  this 
enormity  of  allowing  Unitarians,  Jews,  and  the  numerous  Mahome- 
tans and  Mormans  in  Ireland  to  share  in  the  educational  funds 
transferred  from  the  Irish  Church,  is,  to  speak  softly,  rather  pro- 
blematical. But  if  this  were  the  enormity  which  Mr.  Gladstone 
desired  to  prevent,  by  way  of  compliment  to  his  allies  of  the  Unita- 
rian and  Jewish  persuasions,  he  had  an  unequivocal  opportunity  of 
showing  his  abhorrence  of  people  who  have  as  much  right  to  share 
in  public  educational  grants  as  anybody  else. 

The  English  Independent,  which  is  a  thick-and-thin  Gladstonian 
organ,  though  it  unwisely  inserted  Mr.  Gladstone's  fatal  letter, 
acknowledges  the  following: — "Then  Mr.  Greene  proposed  as  an 
amendment,  that  no  part  of  the  endowments  of  the  Anglican  church 
[in  Ireland]  be  applied  to  the  endowment  of  the  institutions  of  other 
religious  communities."  Here  all  were  excluded,  even  Mr.  Glad- 
stone's particular  friends  "  the  Unitarians,  Jews,  Mahometans, 
and  Mormons,"  But  did  this  satisfy  Mr.  Gladstone  ?  No ! 
Because  it  included  Romanists  in  the  exclusion. 

The  English  Independent  does  not  say — as  Mr.  Gladstone's  late 
letter  would  imply — that  he  accepted  this  desired  exclusion  of 
Unitarians,  &c,  but  "Mr.  Gladstone  again  protested  against  vague 
pledges  at  this  stage."  What  will  that  honourable  gentleman's 
friends  now  say  as  to  his  modern  horror  of  Jews  and  Mahometans 
and  Unitarians  and  Mormons  sharing  in  the  Irish  Church  funds, 
when  he  "  protested  against  "  preventing  it  ? 

Mr.  Gladstone  "requires  no  answer  from  Mr.  Brewin  Grant,  nor 
(I  should  think)  much  from  any  one ;"  all  that  is  required  is  that 
the  country  should  understand  him. 

Even  Mr.  Miall  says — "  What  Mr.  Gladstone  needs  at  the  present 
moment  is  not  the  criticism  but  the  support  of  all  Nonconformists :" 
but  they  will  not  long  support  a  man  who  cannot  stand  "  criticism," 
and  who,  when  he  attempts  to  exercise  it,  lays  himself  open,  as  in 
this  late  epistle. 

8.  Mr.  Gladstone,  however,  has  his  consolation  :  "  Mr.  Brewin 
Grant  seems  to  think  differently  from  the  thousands  of  his  brethren 
who  have  cheered  me  on  by  their  approval." 

•  Now  a  fulfilled  prophecy. 


255 

These  "  cheers  "  may  be  required,  and  may  support  Mr.  Glad- 
stone against  "  Mr.  Brewin  Grant's"  criticisms,  bat  they  will  not 
answer  them,  and  will  not  hold  water  long.  The  Apostle  Paul 
"  seemed  to  think  differently  from  his  brethren  "  when  he  said 
— "  At  my  first  answer  no  man  stood  with  me,  but  all  men  forsook 
me."— (II  Tim.,  iv.,  16.) 

Perhaps  some  would  stand  with  him  afterwards  ;  though  this 
would  not  affect  the  question. 

Mr.  Gladstone  having — as  the  Yorkshire  Post  and  Leeds  Intelli- 
gencer points  out — first  taunted  Mr.  Grant  with  being  in  the 
minority,  next  asks  him  to  respect  the  authority  of  a  minority, 
which  Mr.  Gladstone  himself  ignores. 

What  Mr.  Grant  respects  is  consistency  of  profession  and  of  con- 
duct, a  real  principle  of  right,  and  a  practical  plan  of  action  founded 
on  it,  and  these  are  the  two  things  which  Mr.  Gladstone  lacks  in 
his  Irish  Church  agitation. 

As  Mr.  Gladstone  has  done  the  Rev.  Brewin  Grant  the  honour 
of  singling  him  out  for  refutation,  the  Dissenting  minister  thus  dis- 
tinguished takes  this  opportunity  of  calling  Mr.  Gladstone's  atten- 
tion to  the  published  statement  of  the  Rev.  Brewin  Grant's  argument 
on  the  subject,  given  at  large  in  "Gladstone  and  Justice  to  Ireland: 
the  Liberal  Cry  Examined  on  Liberal  Principles.  A  Repertory  of 
Arguments  for  all  True  Liberals,  Liberationists,  Protestants,  and 
Patriots  :  by  the  Rev.  Brewin  Grant,  B.A.,  Congregational  Minister 
of  Twenty-five  Years'  standing,  and  Author  of  the  First  Anti-State 
Church  or  Liberation  Society's  Prize  Tract — •  The  Church  of  Christ 
— What  is  it '? ' — Sheffield  :  Pawson  and  Brailsford."  * 

P.S. — Mr.  Gladstone  was  properly  suspensory  on  the  Telegraph 
bill,  saying  respecting  it  exactly  what  he  should  have  said  about 
his  own  Irish  Church  resolutions,  namely: — "It  was  impossible 
for  the  house  to  complete  the  operation  by  passing  another 
bill — -first,  because  they  did  not  know  the  facts,  and  second,  because 
the  right  lion,  gentleman  icoidd  not  under  the  circumstance? 
enter  upon  such  a  financial  operation.  That  would  be  a  matter 
of  comparative  insignificance  if  the  question  were  to  be  consi- 
dered by  the  same  body  next  year;  but  as  it  would  not  be,  it 
was  desirable  to  understand  clearly  the  position  in  which  the  new 
parliament  would  be  placed ;  and  this  parliament  had  no  right  to 

*  Mr.  Elliott  Stock,  Paternoster-row,  "whose  name  I  used  from  custom,  as 
my  publisher,  suppressed  this  pamphlet  by  refusing  to  supply  it ;  but  he  is  a 
liberal,  and  wrote  threatening  me  with  legal  consequences  if  I  sold  any  more  with 
his  name  on  ! 


256 

put  the  members  of  the  new  parliament  in  the  position  of  having  it 
said  to  them,  i  You  are  not  free ;  you  are  bound  by  the  assent  of  those 
who  have  gone  before  you.'  The  new  parliament  would  not,  could 
not,  and  ought  not  to  admit  that  it  was  bound.  It  must  have  not 
only  a  legal  but  a  moral  freedom  of  choice."     Times,  July  22- 

Is  Mr.  Gladstone  aware  that  these  were  exactly  the  reasons  why 
he  should  not  have  wasted  a  session  in  trying  to  bind  a  new  par- 
liament by  the  dictum  of  an  effete  one,  while  this  same  dying 
parliament  "  did  not  know  the  facts"  and  was  waiting  for  the 
evidence  of  that  commission  of  enquiry  which  Mr.  Gladstone's 
friends  had  instituted  ? 

Broomhall  Park,  Sheffield,  Oct.  13,  1868. 


Chapter   XXIX. 

THE    UNPARDONABLE    SIN:    OR, 

DISLOYALTY  TO    MR.  GLADSTONE   AND  ITS   PENALTY. 

"MINISTERIAL   DEPOSITION"  AND 

"  EXCOMMUNICATION." 

TO    THE    OFFICERS   AND    COMMITTEE    OF    THE    CONGREGATIONAL    UNION. 

Gentlemen, — Having  been  all  my  life  connected  with  the 
Independent  denomination,  having  spent  seven  years  in  training 
for,  and  twenty-five  years  in  the  exercise  of  the  ministry  in  con- 
nection with  it,  is  my  "name"  now  "cast  out  as  evil"  by  some 
secret  decree,  for  which  your  "Year  Book"  editor  alleges  your 
authority. 

I  still  hope  yet  to  be  installed  by  your  acknowledgment  in  that 
position  for  the  loss  of  which  your  authority  is  alleged  by  your  editor, 
as  sanctioned  by  your  "resolution"  of  Feb.  15,  1869.  I  cannot  but 
suppose  that  some  of  you  are  entirely  ignorant  of  this  transaction, 
and  will  be  as  much  astonished  as  the  world  outside ;  but  so  long  as 
you  do  not  protest  and  secure  me  reparation,  but  like  Dr.  Falding, 
of  Rotherham,  permit  your  names  to  be  used  in  the  Year  Book  as 
the  authority  for  my  "  ministerial  deposition,"  you  are  responsible 
both  in  law  and  morals. 

Your  "Year  Book"  publicly  accuses  t>r.  Falding  of  sending 
a  false  return,  and  he  privately  accuses  the  editor  of  falsifying  the 
return  which  he  sent.     Between  you  I  am  made  a  victim. 


257 

The  following  letter  to  you,  written  directly  after  I  discovered 
— for  you  did  not  condescend  to  inform  me  of — your  act  of  pro- 
fessional decapitation  was  inserted  in  the  Sheffield  Daily  Telegraph, 
January  12th,  and  copied  into  many  other  papers,  with  this  preli- 
minary title  and  note. 

THE  DISSENTING  "  SCREW." 

The  Committee  of  the  Congregational  Union  has  invented  a  new 
instrument  for  the  private  decapitation,  without  notice  or  trial,  of 
ministers,  who  venture  to  have  and  to  express  an  opinion  on  public 
matters  contrary  to  that  of  "  the  wire-pullers"  of  the  sect.  The 
following  letter  is  from  the  victim  for  whose  advantage  this  instru- 
ment was  invented.  He  must  now  feel  that  his  heretical  and 
contumacious  pamphlet — "  Gladstone  and  Justice  to  Ireland ; 
the  Liberal  Cry  Examined  on  Liberal  Principles"  :|: — is  liberally 
answered  : — 

TO   THE   COMMITTEE    OF   THE    CONGREGATIONAL   UNION. 

Sheffield,  January  11th,  1869. 
Gentlemen, — As  you  have  introduced  a  new  law  into  our  denomination,  by 
which  you  have  put  it  into  the  power  of  every  district  secretary  to  omit  the  name 
of  any  minister  resident  in  his  district,  and  on  this  omission  you  have  assumed 
to  alter  the  standing  list,  to  which  you  had  only  authority  to  add,  according  to 
established  custom  ;  and  as  by  this  new  rule  you  depose  every  minister  at  the 
close  of  the  year,  and  recognize  by  recording  and  re-enrolling  only  those  who  are 
newly  endorsed  by  the  district  secretary,  who  thus  makes  and  unmakes  ministers 
as  he  chooses  ;  and,  whereas  I  am  the  chief,  if  not  the  only  intended,  victim  of 
this  more  than  Episcopal  or  even  Papal  power,  by  which  both  my  spiritual  and 
legal  rights  are  seriously  infringed  and  my  usefulness  and  prospects  endangered, 
I  therefore,  in  the  first  instance,  apply  to  you  for  explanation  and  immediate 
redress  of  this  great  grievance  and  injury ;  for  which  I  can  discover  no  other 
motive  than  your  revenge  for  the  position  which,  as  a  Dissenter,  a  Protestant, 
and  an  Englishman,  I  took,  and  had  a  right  to  take,  on  the  Irish  Church  policy 
of  Mr.  Gladstone. 

But  apart  from  your  motive,  it  is  enough  to  show  that  the  unauthorized  plan 
you  have  put  into  operation  is  contrary  to  the  practices  and  principles  of  Congre- 
gationalism, and  therefore  you  are  in  every  way  responsible  for  the  injury  which 
you  have  illegally  inflicted. 

That  your  self-originated  plan  is  contrary  to  the  principles  of  Independency  is 
plain  from  a  few  facts  wherein  you  acknowledge  it.  When  your  agents  had 
capriciously  excluded  the  Eev.  Isaac  Yaughan's  name,  and  thereby  hastened  his 
decease,  you  proposed  that  the  Assembly  in  Sheffield,  1866,  should  request  the 
committee  to  consider  the  best  methods  of  adding  names  to,  or  removing  them 
from,  the  list.  This  general  motion — which  your  secretary  sent  beforehand  to 
me,  in  reply  to  my  letters  on  the  subject,  was  proposed  by  you  to  avoid  inquiry 
into  the  injustice  of  the  particular  case. 

•  To  be  had  by  post,  of  the  author,  for  seven  stamps.  Address-  the  Rev. 
Brewin  Grant,  B.A.,  Sheffield. 


258 

It  was  a  part  of  the  motion  that  the  committee  of  the  Congregational  Union 
should  report  to  the  next  assembly  in  London,  in  May,  1867.  But,  instead  of 
waiting  to  report  to  that  meeting,  and  gain  its  sanction  to  any  suggested  changes, 
you  assumed  the  right  to  legislate,  made  a  new  law,  and  printed  it  in  the  l'ear 
Book  six  months  before  the  meeting  assembled  to  which  it  was  your  duty  to 
report.  You  thus  surreptitiously  legalised  the  tyranny  that  was  questioned,  and, 
making  the  iniquity  into  a  law,  usurped  the  position  of  dictators  to  the  denomi- 
nation. When  I  enquired  at  the  Manchester  meetings  by  what  authority  the 
power  of  decapitating  ministers,  without  notice  or  trial,  was  foisted  into  the  Year 
Book,  every  obstacle  was  put  in  my  way  to  prevent  the  question  coming  before 
the  meeting ;  and  your  two  secretaries  declared  at  last,  with  great  confidence, 
that  the  obnoxious  law  had  been  endorsed,  if  not  proposed  and  passed,  in  the 
May  meeting  in  London.  One  of  them  afterwards  published  a  letter  to  acknow- 
ledge that  the  Assembly  had  not  been  appealed  to  on  the  subject,  and  promising 
that  at  the  next  meeting  an  opportunity  should  be  afforded  of  discussing  the 
matter.  Instead  of  this,  the  change  was  referred  to  in  your  report  as  an  accom- 
plished fact,  and  the  only  point  for  the  meeting  to  consider  was  the  condoning  of 
the  omission  to  report  it  before.  It  was  assumed  that  the  law  itself  was  right, 
and  that  the  committee  had  a  right  to  make  it.  That  part  of  your  report  was 
rejected  by  the  Assembly,  as  recorded  in  the  English  Independent,  but  ignored 
in  our  Year  Book.  Your  secretary,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  chairman — who 
expressed  his  surprise  at  your  illegal  course — referred  the  matter  to  the  next 
meeting  at  Leeds,  and  there  it  was  ignored  entirely. 

Since  then  you  have  gone  further,  and  prescribed  that  each  new  year  only 
such  names  shall  be  printed  as  "  Independent  ministers  in  England,"  &c,  as  the 
district  secretaries  may  send  up  to  the  editor.  Tbis  gave  Dr.  Falding,  of 
Masbro'  College,  an  opportunity  of  not  sending  my  name,  and  I  think  your  rule 
is  made  for  the  sole  purpose — to  sacrifice  me  on  the  altar  of  Dissenting  "persecu- 
tion; and  thus  at  once  to  relieve  yourselves  from  all  further  remonstrance,  and 
to  execute  summary  vengeance  on  my  failure  to  worship  the  idol  of  the  hour, 
Mr.  Gladstone. 

But  you  have  not  escaped  either  remonstrance  or  responsibility  by  this  second 
false  step  to  retrieve  your  first. 

If  I  had  joined  a  secular  club,  which  by  its  constitution  and  rules  offered  me 
certain  advantages,  the  law  of  the  land  would  come  in  as  arbitrator,  to  enforce 
the  stipulated  conditions  and  set  aside  any  contrary  rules. 

I  vail  tell  you  now  how  far  your  course  tends  to  injure  me,  on  the  same 
principle,  but  in  an  infinitely  higher  degree.  I  announced  myself  as  intending 
for  a  time  to  engage  in  a  general  ministry,  in  which  I  should  preach  special 
sermons  on  Sundays,  and  on  week  evenings  lecture  on  Eomanism,  Ritualism, 
and  Rationalism.     To  free  myself  for  this  I  gave  up  my  pastorate. 

As  to  preaching,  I  may  now  be  told  that  my  own  denomination  rejects  me  ; 
and  it  may  be  imagined  that  there  was  some  moral  ground  for  it.  The  same  may 
operate  to  prevent  my  lecturing ;  and  in  case  I  should  seek  to  re-settle  as  a 
minister,  as  intended,  the  same  would  bar  my  progress — "  He  is  not  on  the 
list  of  our  congregational  ministers."  If,  thus  rejected  by  you,  who  usurp  the 
place  of  the  denomination,  I  should  seek  to  preach  the  gospel  in  some  other 
really  independent  church,  any  body  of  Christians  to  whom  I  should  offer  myself 
might  naturally  make  the  same  objection. 

Tb(  so  are  the  direct  and  immediate  injuries  you  have  inflicted  on  one  who 
has  the  same  right  to  be  on  the  list  as  anyone  of  you.  But  further,  there  are  aids 
to  retiring  pastors,  and  subsequent  advantages  to  their  families,  if  required  ;  and 


259 

from  all  these  opportunities  of  usefulness,  benefits,  and  repute,  you  have,  as  far 
as  you  can,  debarred  me  by  the  illegal  procedure  already  described  ;  and  it  is  for 
this  deprivation — which  I  learned  only  from  your  printed  book — that  I  ask  your 
immediate,  unequivocal  explanation  and  reparation. 

I  have  equally  demanded  of  Dr.  Falding,  to  whom  you  gave  the  power  to  erase 
my  name,  or,  rather,  on  the  pretext  of  whose  omision  to  send  it  you  presumed  to 
erase  it,  what  reasons  he  had  for  his  share  in  this  transaction,  which  tends  to 
make  the  profession  of  religion  the  scorn  of  the  world. 

The  Roman  cardinal's  aspiration  to  "conquer  an  imperial  race"  does  not 
seem  so  extravagant,  when  we  consider  that  the  present  leading  statesman  has 
introduced  into  the  Queen's  Privy  Council  the  most  active  Romanist,  who  lately 
proposed  that  our  next  monarch  should  not  make  the  Protestant  declarations 
which  assured  England  of  her  liberties.  But  this  is  nothing  in  comparison  with 
the  fact  that  the  committee  of  the  Congregational  Union  is  the  Pope's  execu- 
tioner, for  all  in  that  denomination  who  shall  with  any  effect  oppose  the  present 
Roman  invasion  of  England,  Ireland,  and  Scotland;  nor  will  the  Pope's  generals, 
Drs.  Manning  and  Cullen,  find  much  liberty  to  conquer  in  England,  for  its 
loudest  friends  have  smitten  it ;  having  first  been  false  to  Christ's  honour  in 
abetting  the  spiritual  Fenianism  that  would  wickedly  depose  Him,  it  is  a  fitting 
preparation  for  trampling  on  human  liberty,  which  flourishes  in  perfection  only 
under  the  sacred  shadow  of  His  throne. 

How  far  the  assumed  leaders  of  Dissenters  are  betraying  them  into  a  position 
false  to  Christianity  and  liberty,  I  have  too  abundant  and  sad  materials  of  showing 
in  the  preparation  for  "  The  Dissenting  World;  an  Autobiography,"  which  wL; 
be  ready  by  the  opening  of  Parliament. 

Besides  the  effect  upon  the  nation  at  large,  I  do  not  doubt  that  it  will  fin'" 
some  amongst  us,  as  Independents,  "who  have  not  bowed  the  knee  to  Baal;1' 
and  though  you  may  unhappily  be  so  eager  to  "receive  honour  one  of  another" 
as  to  make  it  morally  impossible  for  you  to  "  believe"  or  acknowledge  the  truth, 
I  trust  that  God,  in  His  mercy,  will  not  only  defend  me  against  your  policy,  but 
sustain  me  in  honour  and  fidelity,  still  to  witness  more  effectually  for  the  truth 
of  Christ  and  the  liberty  of  man,  so  that  to  all  sympathising  friends  I  maybe  able 
to  say — "I  would  ye  sbould  understand,  brethren,  that  the  things  which  have 
happened  unto  me  have  fallen  out  rather  unto  the  furtherance  of  the  Gospel." — 
Phil,  i.,  12. 

Yours  faithfully, 

BREWIN  GRANT. 

The  noble  and  independent  editor  of  the  Sheffield  Daily  Telegraph 
whose  industry,  genius,  and  courage  have  achieved  a  marvellous 
success  in  a  few  years,  and  who  first  broke  down  that  terrorism,  which 
the  former  cowardice  and  compliance  of  others  had  fostered  in  Shef- 
field and  its  neighbourhood,  and  whose  high  moral  tone  and  literary 
culture  promise  to  lead  and  sustain  all  other  influences  in  elevating 
this  vast  population,  and  redeeming  the  district  from  that  reproach 
which  the  supineness  and  cupidity  of  the  assumed  leaders  and 
guides  of  the  people  had  too  much  encouraged,  came  forward  in  this 
crisis  of  my  life,  and  voluntarily  gave  the  following  testimony,  at  a 
time  when  even  common  justice  was  a  rarity  and  a  consolation  : — 


260 

"The  Independents  do  themselves  an  injustice  in   having   no 
church  courts  in  which  to  try  questions  affecting  the  character  and 
standing  of  their  ministers.    They  appear  to  have  no  tribunal  before 
which  to  arraign  the  preachers  of  their  persuasion.     A  minister  of 
stainless  character  and  superior  ability — a  kind  father,  an  excellent 
husband,  a  spirited  citizen,  a  genial  and  generous  friend,  a  powerful 
writer,  an   able  debater,  may  any  day  find  his  name  erased  from 
the  list  of  recognised  ministers,  and  himself  treated  as  an  outcast  for 
reasons  unknown  to  him.     An  Independent  minister,  distinguished 
by  qualities  of  head  and  heart  which  stamp  him  a  superior  man, 
may  be  stealthily  accused,  secretly  denounced,  and  as  secretly  de- 
posed from  the  rank  of  an  acknowledged  pastor  before  he  has  the 
slightest  chance  of  knowing  who  were  his  accusers,  or  what  was  the 
nature  of  the  charge   brought  against  him.     Such  a  system  of  pro- 
ceeding to  pass  sentence  in  private  outrages  every  sense  of  justice, 
and  is  open  to  the  grossest  abuse.     We  do  not  like  to  use  strong 
language  about  matters  of  this  kind,  yet  what  language  can  be  too 
strong  ?     '  He  who  judgeth  a  cause  before  he  heareth  it  is  not  wise.' 
In  the  law  courts  of  the  land  no  one,  however  poor,  however  damaged 
in  character,  however  vile,  can  be  treated  as  some  pastors  of  ad- 
mitted ability  and  no  small  reputation  have  of  late  been  treated  in 
this  part  of  England.     The  thief  caught  in  the  act,  the  ticket-of- 
leave  man  pinioned  in  the  house  into  which  he  has  penetrated  as  a 
burglar,  the  murder  taken  red-handed,  are   duly  informed  of  the 
charge  against  them,  have  a  fair  allowance  of  time  in  which  to  pre- 
pare their  defence,  are  assisted  by  counsel,  in  order  that  no  mental 
dulness  of  theirs  may  place  them  at  a  disadvantage,  are  permitted 
to  see  their  accusers  face  to  face,  are  tried  by  jurymen  who  have  no 
personal  interest  in  the  question,  and  are  at  liberty  to  object  to  any 
juror  who  is  suspected  of  entertaining  any  private  feeling  against 
them.     For  them  everything  is  open  and  above-board.      The  full 
glare  of  daylight  is  let  in  upon  the  proceedings.     All   irrelevant 
matter,  all  hearsay  and  gossip,  all  indications  of  animus,  all  attempts 
to    strain  a    point    for  the  conviction    are  sternly  rebuked    and 
firmly  arrested.     The  jurymen  are  not  even  permitted  to  know  that 
the  accused  have  been  previously  convicted,  lest  the  knowledge  of 
the  facts  should  prejudice  their  minds  against  the  prisoners.     Such 
is  the  treatment  to  which  even  the  worst  of  criminals  are  entitled 
under  secular  law.     But  an  Independent   minister  is  treated   so 
much  worse  than  a  criminal  that  a  sentence  of  ministerial  decapita- 
tion may  be  issued  against  him  in  his  absence  without  so  much  as 
a  pretenee  of  trial,  and  without  letting  him  know  either  the  names 


261 

of  the  instigators  or  the  nature  of  the  accusation.  What  a  pre- 
mium this  upon  the  development  of  personal  pique  !  It  is  not  a 
word  and  a  blow  with  the  blow  first ;  it  is  simply  the  blow  without  the 
word.  The  victim  is  stabbed  from  behind,  and  knows  not  in  the 
darkness  whose  is  the  hand  that  has  driven  in  the  weapon.  All 
that  he  knows  is  that  he  is  wounded — wounded  deeply,  wounded, 
it  may  be,  fatally — wounded,  not  improbably,  by  men  who  would 
have  hesitated  to  meet  him  in  fair  fight,  face  to  face.  If  such  a 
system  of  dealing  with  respectable  and  highly  intelligent  men  who 
believe  themselves  to  be  honest  is  right,  the  rules  of  our  law  courts 
must  be  strangely  wrong,  and  if  on  the  other  hand  it  is  not  right, 
parliament  should  grant  us  another  commission,  with  full  power  to 
sit  in  Sheffield,  and  institute  a  most  searching  enquiry  into  some 
recent  cases  of  ecclesiastical  trade  outrages.  Let  us  calmly  take 
an  example.  In  William  Broadhead's  case  there  were  ex- 
tenuating circumstances.  He  at  least  warned  the  men  who  were 
incurring  his  anger.  In  his  case  there  was  a  sort  of  trial  before 
sentence  was  passed,  nor  did  he  take  any  measures  until  his 
private  law  court  had  pronounced  the  suggestive  words,  "some- 
thing must  be  done."  Can  we  say  as  much  in  reference  to 
the  rattened  Independent  minister,  whose  account  of  his  treat- 
ment appeared  in  our  Tuesday's  paper?  That  gentleman's 
position  is,  if  we  understand  it  aright,  something  like  this.  He 
has  the  misfortune  to  differ  from  the  majority  of  his  class  in  a 
matter  of  opinion.  The  difference  is  not  one  of  morals,  nor  is  it 
one  of  faith.  His  private  character  is  irreproachable  ;  his  religious 
belief  has  not  been  called  in  question ;  his  peculiarity  is  one  of 
purely  political  opinion,  and  the  remarkable  thing  about  his  political 
opinion  is  that  it  is  nothing  new,  even  among  the  highest  authori- 
ties of  the  body  to  which  he  belongs.  What  he  thinks  and  feels 
on  the  subject  of  Protestantism  in  Ireland  is  precisely  what  some 
of  the  most  distinguished  Nonconformist  divines  have  thought  and 
felt  on  the  same  subject.  Having  a  mind  of  his  own,  and  a  strength 
of  will  which  makes  him  speak  his  mind,  he  does  speak  it.  He 
declines  to  conceal  his  convictions ;  he  dares  to  dissent  from  the 
political  policy  of  the  majority  ;  and  being  by  nature  a  very  bold 
man,  he  dares  even  to  practise  dissent  amongst  Dissenters.  In 
stating  this  much  we  are  not  endorsing  his  opinions.  It  is  sufficient 
for  us  that  they  are  his  opinions.  Has  he  a  right  to  think  his  own 
thoughts  ?  Is  he  at  liberty  to  say  what  he  thinks  ?  These  points 
ought  really  to  be  settled.  If  there  is  somewhere  or  other  a  politi- 
cal Pope,  and  an  infallible  political  creed,    the  authority  of  that 


262 

Pope  should  be  announced  by  proclamation,  and  the  necessity  of 
believing  in  that  creed,  and  of  cursing  with  more  than  Athanasian 
vigour  all  who  do  not  believe,  should  be  made  known  to  all  candi- 
dates for  the  ministerial  office,  so  that  they  at  least  may  take  their 
politics  in  prepared  pulp,  as  babies  take  spoon  &eat,  and  may,  in 
the  event  of  refusal,  know  what  is  before  them." — Sheffield  Daily 
Telegraph,  January  14,  1869. 

A  copy  of  my  letter  to  the  committee  of  the  Congregational  Union, 
having  been  sent  to  a  friend  who  is  on  the  committee,  led  to  the 
following  correspondence,  which  with  the  preliminary  notice  here 
given,  appeared  in  the  Sheffield  Daily  Telegraph,  January  23rd. 
This  letter  from  a  Ministerial  member  of  the  committee  contains 
such  sort  of  defence  as  that  body  may  possibly  adopt.  How  far  it 
is  valid,  is  seen  by  the  answer : — 

THE  DISSENTING  "SCKEW"  NUMBER  TWO. 

The  Congregationalists  having  illegally  excommunicated  the  Rev.  Brewin 
(3-rant,  B.A.,  because  the  Liberationists  could  not  answer  his  arguments  in  his 
lectures,  recorded  in  his  pamphlet,  "  Gladstone  and  Justice  to  Ireland,"  which 
foretold  all  that  is  now  taking  place — the  demands  of  the  Roman  cardinals, 
exposed  for  a  second  time  by  the  Rev.  W.  Arthur,  of  the  Wesleyan  denomina- 
tion;  we  inserted  Mr.  Grant's  letter  to  the  Congregational  Union  in  the 
Telegraph  of  January  12th,  and  we  expressed  our  views  on  the  matter  in  an 
article  inserted  January  14th.  We  are  now  favoured  with  a  reply  from  a 
ministerial  member  of  the  committee  of  the  Congregational  Union,  and  Mr. 
Grant's  answer  thereto.  We  think  that  Churchmen  should  form  a  "Liberation 
Society  for  the  freedom  of  Congregationalism  from  all  union  patronage  and  con- 
trol," in  kindly  answer  to  a  similar  Dissenting  society  to  "liberate"  Churchmen 
"from  all  state  patronage  and  control." 

LETTEB    FROM   A   MINISTERIAL   MEMBER   OF   THE     COMMITTEE    OF  THE   CONGRE- 
GATIONAL  UNION. 

"  January  18,  1869. 

"  My  dear  Mr.  Grant, — I  now  write  because  a  long  friendship  prevents  a  cold 
silence,  but  with  no  desire  for  controversy.  Let  me  say  that  until  I  read  your 
letter  I  was  in  ignorance  of  the  omission  of  your  name  from  the  Year  Book.  At 
the  same  time  I  feel  bound  to  express  my  belief  that  the  motives  you  attribute  to 
the  committee  in  the  matter  are  altogether  unreal.  I  never  was  on  a  committee 
where  there  was  more  independent  speaking.  From  what  I  have  seen  of  Dr. 
Smith  and  Mr.  Ashton  I  am  certain  they  are  incapable  of  acting  from  mere  per- 
sonal considerations  in  such  an  important  matter. 

"  While  sincerely  hoping  justice  may  be  done  to  you,  I  cannot  see  where  blame 
can  attach  to  the  committee.  The  Union  passes  rules  for  the  guidance  of  the 
editorial  secretary,  and  he  has  no  choice  but  compliance.  If  those  locally  con- 
nected with  the  case  do  not  send  up  the  name  how  can  the  committee  help  that  ? 
It  may  be  an  argument  for  altering  the  rules,  but  I  cannot  see  how  you  can  lay 
the  blame  on  the  committee.  Besides,  you  have  another  mode  of  having  your 
name  inserted  in  the  Year  Book ;  if  I  mistake  not  the  signatures  of  five  brethren 
insure  it. 


263 

«  It  would  be  an  evil  day  for  Independency  if  a  difference  of  view  on  political 
mictions  ceased  to  be  accepted  as  a  personal  right.  ' 

q  '  Vo  o/ifmor.  tku  I  did  lamented  your  action  *r*v  tfc  wceni  Action; 
tat  it  www-  crossed  my  mind  to  question  your  absolute  right  to  take  as  an  In- 
flpvendent  minister  the  position  you  did. 

<TmZ  wish  an  opponent  to  be  on  my  side,  but  if  he  could  see  his  way  into 
believin"  that  Disraeli  is  a  statesman  of  high  honour-  and  deep  religious  principle, 
3e  Gladstone  is  a  Jesuit  and  an  adventurer,  I  know  of  nothing  in  Independency 
to  prevent  him  proclaiming  his  views  wherever  he  can  find  hearers  or  readers. 

"  I  suppose  your  letter  will  come  before  the  next  committee  meeting.  '  For 
Auld  Lang  Syne'  I  will  try  and  be  there.  I  should  like  much  to  have  a  long 
chat  with  you  over  matters  to  be  looked  at  from  many  sides  ;  one  cannot  do  this 
in  a  letter.  .     ,         _  , 

"  Now,  show  that  you  believe  a  man  may  be  your  friend,  and  not  on  the 
high  road  to  perdition,  because  he  does  not  see  eye  to  eye  with  yourself. 

"  Yours  affectionately,  

"  The  Eev.  Brewin  Grant,  B.A., 
Broomhall  Park,  Sheffield." 


"  Jan.  20,  1868. 
"  My  dear  Sir, — If  you  had  favoured  me  with  your  opinion  as  to  the  '  motives' 
either  of  the  committee  or  the  editor,  I  might  have  compared  it  with  my  own. 
It  is  for  them,  however,  to  tell  the  world  what  their  '  considerations'  may  have 
been,  whether  '  personal'  or  political.      You  '  cannot  see  where  blame  attaches 
to  the  committee  ;  the  Union  passes  rules  for  the  guidance  of  the  editorial  secre- 
tary and  he  has  no  choice  but  compliance.'     Did  the  Union  pass  rules,  or  did 
the*  committee  or  editoral  secretary  forge  them  ?     I  suppose  you  have  not  seen 
the  Year  Book,  and  have  forgotten  my  letter.     '  If  those  locally  concerned  do  not 
send  up  the  name,  how  can  the  committee  help  it  ?'  Why  need  my  name  be  '  sent 
up'  when  it  has  been  '  up'  for  26  years  ?  Who  are  the  committee  that  they  should 
take  mv  name  or  yours  off  the  standing  general  list,  at  their  caprice,  because  a 
local  secretary  at  his,  omits  the  duty  of  remembering  that  I  live  in  his  district  ? 
This  is  not '  an  argument  for  altering  the  rules,'  but  against '  altering  them,'  and  that 
surreptitiously.     The  kul.es  were  good  till  arbitrarily  altered.     That  five 
brethren's  signatures  might  insure  the  re-insertion  of  my  name  is  poor  comfort, 
when  I  am  traduced  as  expelled,  which  perhaps,  is  no  greater  indignity  than  to  be 
reduced  to  receive  their  recommendatory  signatures.    But  the  newly-invented  rule 
which  repeals  all  rules,  does  not  leave  even  this  resource.     See  our  new  Year  Book. 
You  say  it  would  be  an  evil  day  for  Independency  when  political  liberty  is  de- 
nied, and  that  you  admit  my  '  right  as  an  Independent  minister'  to  take  any  position 
as  to  the  Irish   Church.     I  know  from  a  wide  experience  that   your  opinion  is 
singular,  and  that  the  English  Independent's  repudiation  of  me  as  a  minister  on 
this  very  account,  and  its  acceptance  of  the  newly-forged  rule  as  a  chance  for  'a 
judicious  weeding  of  the  list,'  was  only  a  part  of  that  general  persecution 
which  culminated  in  the  erasure  of  my  name.     I  am  thankful  for  the  large  liberty 
of  opinion  respecting  Messrs.  Disraeli  and  Gladstone.     I  doubt  not  you  imagine  it 
'  the  very  image'  of  my  Irish  Church  position.     I  have  nothing  to  do  with  either, 
but  with  measures.     But  I  neither  believe  in  the  virulent  abuse  of  Mr.  Disraeli, 
which  is  orthodox  liberality,  nor  in  the  hysterical  adulation  of  '  the  heaven-born' 
and  '  high -stepping'    Gladstone,     whose   progress   is   the  perpetual  motion   of 
self-contradiction.     Nor  do  I  believe  in  currying  favour  with  priests  to  put  down 


264 

Fenianism  by  lowering  Protestantism,  -which  Fenians  do  not  care  abont.  I  am  no  less 
amazed  at  your  concluding  wish,  that  I  may  '  show  that  I  can  believe  a  man  to 
be  my  iriend,  and  not  on  the  high  road  to  perdition,  because  he  does  not  see  eye 
to  eye  with  me.'  This  is  what  I  have  wanted  hundreds  of  my  friends  to  show,  and 
they  resent  my  want  of  '  seeing  eye  to  eye'  by  every  insult  and  indignity  and 
injury  ;  but  none  more  than  the  committee  of  which  you  are  a  member. 
Nothing  has  occurred  by  which  I  am  disqualified  from  being  recognised  by  them 
as  a  Congregational  minister,  except  my  not  '  seeing  eye  to  eye  '  with  the 
idolators  of  Mr.  Gladstone,  no  one  of  whom  knows  what  he  means  ;  and  in  this 
sense  he  is  truly  oracular.  If  I  had  been  on  the  other  side,  or  could  have  been 
answered,  I  should  have  been  in  our  Year  Book  as  heretofore. 

'•If  you  put  it  wholly  on  Dr.  Falding's  shoulders,  as  not  having  •  sent  up' 
my  address,  whose  presumed  omission  is  made  by  your  new  rule  a  pretext  for 
erasure  from  the  general  list,  you  can  account  for  his  courage  to  do  such  an  act, 
only  on  this  supposition,  that  as  the  leading  Liberal  spirits  had  abused  me 
because  they  could  not  answer  me,  it  would  be  a  grateful  sacrifice  to  their  vanity 
to  immolate  one  who  was  too  much  for  their  ability.  If  '  I  am  become  a  fool  in 
glorying,  ye  have  compelled  me  ;  for  when  I  ought  to  be  commended  of  you' — 
as  standing  up  for  our  Dissenting  and  Protestant  principles,  which  are  both 
betrayed,  as  I  have  proved, — ye  have  expelled  me  instead.  If  I  had  been  a 
naturalist  or  a  Neologian  I  could  have  been,  so  far  as  my  sentiments  are  con- 
cerned, a  professor  in  one  of  our  colleges,  or  a  member  of  the  Congregational 
Union  Committee. 

"  I  might  safely  and  advantageously  deny  Christ  among  you,  but  the  worship 
of  Mr.  Gladstone  is  the  new  Uniformity  Act  of  Nonconformists  which  is  enforced 
by  Ejection".  You  see  that  if  you  are  not  controversial,  I  am,  and  perhaps  you 
would  be  if,  like  me,  you  were  cast  out  of  the  synagogue.  People  who  have  not 
the  tooth-ache  do  not  always  sympathise  very  deeply  with  one  who  has,  and  they 
are  scarcely  fair  judges  as  to  the  intensity  with  which  he  expresses  his  feelings. 
In  a  great  sorrow  there  are  few  persons  who  can  be  so  calm  and  self-possessed  as 
those  who  are  not  sufferers ;  and  it  is  a  general  rule  of  human  nature  that  we  are 
enabled  to  bear  with  great  equanimity  the  injuries  endured  by  other  people.  Yet 
I  am  sometimes  surprised  that  those  who  are  exposed  to  the  like  evils,  and  are 
disgraced,  and  their  professed  principles  dishonoured,  by  that  submission  which 
is  perpetration,  do  not  for  their  own  safety  and  credit  shake  off  the  sloth  and 
servility  which  invite  and  deserve  attack.  It  is  for  you  now  to  solve  this  problem 
by  going  straight  into  the  business,  and  so  aiding  the  committee  to  answer  my 
appeal  by  no  evasion  or  reference  to  forged  rules,  which  are  themselves  the  worst 
part  of  the  grievance,  or  to  the  personal  responsibility  of  their  agents,  but  by  a 
substantial  act  of  justice  ,  that  shall  recover  their  requtation  by  repairing  the 
injury  they  have  inflicted  on  your  friend, 

"BKEWIN  GRANT." 

With  the  preceding  letters,  the  Daily  Sheffield  Telegrayh  leader, 
I  sent  to  the  committee  the  following  terms,  which  were  transmitted 
through  Samuel  Mokley,  Esq.  Considering  the  injury,  the  terms 
were  moderate  : — 

A  public  acknnvledgment  in  twelve  newspapers,  to  be  selected  by  me,  and  in  a 
fly-sheet  to  be  attached  to  unissued  copies  of  the  present  Year  Book,  the  same  to 
be  repeated  in  the  Year  Book  for  1870,  stating  on  the  part  of  the  committee  by 
their  secretary  : — That  my  name  was  illegally  and  unjustly  omitted  from  the  list 


265 

of  accredited  Congregational  Ministers  in  the  Year  Book  for  1869  ;  that  the 
committee  will  regret  if  such  omission  be  regarded  as  a  stigma,  or  be  employed 
to  my  disadvantage  ;  that  I  be  at  perfect  liberty  to  publish  such  explanations  as 
I  may  deem  necessary  to  the  removal  of  such  misunderstandings  as  may  have 
been  occasioned  or  confirmed  by  this  occurrence ;  that  the  committee  in  such 
public  acknowledgment  of  the  error  of  erasure  be  perfectly  free  to  repudiate  any 
motives  which  may  have  been,  or  shall  hereafter  be  attributed  to  them ;  and  that 
it  be  left  to  Samuel  Morley,  Esq.,  M.P.,  to  adjudicate  whether  any,  and  if  so, 
what  pecuniary  compensation  be  awarded  for  such  losses  and  anxiety  from  uncer- 
tainty as  may  have  occurred,  or  may  be  reasonably  expected  to  occur,  before  the 
effects  of  this  u  ministerial  deposition"  be  fully  removed. 

The  following  answer  is  the  only  communication  received  from  my 
deposers,  who  do  not  even  say: — "And  may  the  Lord  have  mercy  on 
your  soul,  for  there  is  no  hope  of  mercy  from  this  committee," 
but  the  bare,  cold,  insolent  notification  that  they  ratify  the  deed,  is 
all  that  they  could  afford ;  so  that  one  of  them  can  now  write  in  his 
paper  to  this  effect — "  We  need  take  no  more  notice  of  him,  he  is 
an  outcast."  I  mean  the  one  who  at  the  commencement  of  the 
conspiracy  wilfully  changed  a  testimonial  from  my  church  into  a 
libel  by  inuenclo,  which  the  other  editor  on  the  committee  adopted, 
and  when  informed  of  its  untruth  declined  to  do  me  justice.  That 
they  should  pass  this  resolution  I  do  not  wonder  : — 

"  Congregational  Union  of  England  and  Wales, 

"  18,  South-street,  Finsbury,  E.C.,  February  15,  1869. 
"  To  the  Eev.  Brewin  Grant,  B.A. 
"  Sir, — In  the  absence  of  my  esteemed  colleague,*   the   Bev.   Dr.    Smith, 
through  indisposition,  I   am  instructed  by  the  committee  to  forward  to  you  the 
following  resolution  passed  unanimously  this  day  : — 

"  '  That  Mr.  Grant  be  informed,  in  reply  to  his  letters,  that  the  omission  of 
his  name  from  the  Year  Book  of  1869  was  not  owing  to  any  new  regulation 
adopted  by  the  committee  of  the  Union,  but  was  in  accordance  with  the  course 
which  had  been  previously  pursued  in  the  preparation  of  the  Year  Book.' 

'•  I  am,  sir,  yours  truly,  "  ROBERT  ASHTON,  Secretary." 

THE  REV.  BREWIN  GRANT'S  FINAL  WORD  TO  THE  COMMITTEE. 
"  To  the  Committee  of  the  Congregational  Union. 

"  Gentlemen, — The  Rev.  Robert  Ashton,  by  your  direction,  sends  me  the 
following : — 

"  '  That  Mr.  Grant  be  informed,  in  reply  to  his  letters,  that  the  omission  of  his 
name  from  the  Year  Book  of  1869  was  not  owing  to  any  new  regulation  adopted 
by  the  committee  of  the  Congregational  Union,  but  was  in  accordance  with  the 
course  previously  pursued  in  the  preparation  of  the  Year  Book.' 

"1.  I  shall  be  obliged  if  you  will  explain  by  what  old  regulation — (since  you 
deny  the  new  one,  affirmed  by  your  editor,  page  400  of  the  Year  Book  for  1869) 
— you  did  this  deed  ? 

"2.  Secondly,  I  will  thank  you,  when  you  inform  me  how  it  happened  that 
Bince,  as  you  say,  '  the  course'  vaguely  referred  to  was,  '  previously  pursued,'  you 

*  They  colleague  together. 


266 

did  not  'previously  pursue'  it  in  my  case?  For  instance  :  what  happened  be- 
tween your  books  for  1863  and  1869  to  make  the  difference?  Was  it  opposition  to 
Mr.  Gladstone's  policy ;  and  if  not,  what  else  ? 

"  Perhaps  the  humblest  brother  may,  in  common  decency,  request  this  infor- 
mation  from  his  deposers. 

"  3.  I  require  you  at  once  to  return  my  papers  contained  in  the  book  which 
Samuel  Morley,  Esq.,  sent  to  your  meeting.  The  book  is  mine,  and  it  is  im- 
portant to  my  case  that  it  be  produced.  Mr.  Ashton  should  either  have  returned 
it  with  his  copy  of  your  evasive  and  unfeeling  resolution,  or  have  told  me  where 
it  is. 

"  I  regret  for  your  sake,  and  that  of  Congregationalism  and  of  Christian  honour, 
liberty,  and  charity,  that  you  force  me  to  seek  by  other  means  that  redress  and 
justice  which  you  fail  to  afford  in  reply  to  reasonable  offers  and  remonstrances. 
If  public  law  should  fail,  public  opinion  will  mark  your  union  as  a  secret  proscrip- 
tion agency,  and  the  precursor  of  the  Inquisition  in  England.  You  avow  no 
motive,  and  dare  not ;  you  assign  no  reason,  and  cannot.  If  my  case  is  not 
peculiar  your  case  is  still  more  disgraceful.         Yours  faithfully, 

"BEE WIN  GBANT." 


Chapter  XXX. 
WHEREIN  DISSENTERS  HAVE  BEEN  MISLED;  WHERE- 
IN THEY  ARE    IN   DANGER   OF  BEING   USED  FOR 
WHAT    THEY    DISLIKE;     AND     HOW    THEY    ARE 
LOSING  THE  MORAL  POWER  TO  OPPOSE  IT. 

There  are  thousands  of  Dissenters  who  have  had  it  dinned  into 
tnem  by  reiterated  assertions  from  those  who  have,  happily,  also 
distinctly  repudiated  what  they  perpetually  affirm,  namely,  that  the 
present  Irish  Church  agitation  is  an  Anti- State  Church  movement. 

So  undoubtingly  is  this  taken  in,  that  every  ore  who  opposes  Mr. 
Gladstone  is  regarded  as  a  renegade  Dissenter,  and  in  heart  a 
churchman  and  tory.  But  it  is  not  considered  that  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Miller,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hains,  and  other  churchmen  who  take  the 
opposite  side,  are  false  to  State  churchism;  they  are  "nien  of  pro- 
gress" who  turn  over  to  the  "  Liberals,"  while  those  who  turn  from 
"  the  Liberal  party,"  to  maintain  liberal  principles,  are  Judases 
and  renegades  if  not  turncoats.  This  at  least  will  be  admitted, 
that  this  is  not  the  road  in  which  promotion  lies.  They  who  peril 
friendships  and  prospects,  even  if  blind,  may,  by  a  stretch  of  liberal 
charity,  be  regarded  as  honest. 

But  such  writers  as  Mr.  Miall,  who  are  not  by  me  accused  of 
being  Romanists  because  they  accidentally  on  a  political  question 


267 

join  Panl  Cullen,  yet  presume  to  call  me  "  a  State  Church  Lecturer" 
because  I  honestly,  on  a  politico-religious  question,  join  those 
clergy  who  have  not  forgotten  their  protestantism. 

Now  in  order  to  justify  clergymen  of  Gladstonian  views,  and  to 
cover  his  proposal  of  a  vote  of  confidence  in  two  members  of  Parlia- 
ment, who  had  just  repudiated  the  principles  which  Mr.  Miall  left 
his  pulpit  to  advocate,  namely,  Anti-State  Churchism,  Mr.  Miall 
discovered  and  printed  this  principle — "  that  neither  the  Esta- 
blishment of  the  Church  of  England  nor  the  principle  of  church 
establishments  was  at  issue  now." — Nonconformist,  September 
80,  1868. 

If  this  be  true,  it  is  false  to  say  that  any  Dissenter  is  inconsistent 
in  taking  either  side  on  this  confessedly  neutral  question. 

Mr.  Turbervtlle,  of  the  English  Independent,  October  29, 1868, 
said — "  The  present  conflict  does  not  at  all  turn  upon  the  abstract 
right  or  wrong  of  establishments  "  Yet  this  writer  coarsely  told  his 
readers  that  it  was  great  presumption  for  me  any  longer  to  pretend 
to  be  a  Congregational  minister,  or  Dissenter,  because  I  take  a  side 
on  a  question  in  which  he  says  that. neither  dissent  nor  churchman- 
ship  is  involved  ! 

The  Congregational  Union  gave  the  same  utterance  in  its  paper 
on  the  Duty  of  Dissenters  it  said:  that  "  many  false  issues  had 
been  raised,"  and  that  we  could  not  too  strongly  repudiate  the  notion 
that  the  present  question  involved  "  the  righteousness  or  wisdom" 
of  state-churches. 

Now  this  union,  like  the  two  editors  quoted  above,  treats  me  as  a 
renegade  Dissenter  on  what  it  calls — a  "  false  issue."  I  cannot  say 
whether  the  mistake  of  all  three  is  from  honest  and  sincere 
stupidity,  or  from  a  dictatorial  or  overbearing  disposition  to 
tyranny.  But  I  put  the  three  opinions  on  record,  for  the  use  of 
those  who  will  know  how  to  understand  and  to  use  them.  For  any 
of  these  parties,  after  such  acknowledgments,  to  treat  those  Dissen- 
ters as  renegades  who  do  not  swallow  Mr.  Gladstone's  still 
undeveloped  scheme,  is  either  fatuity  or  hypocrisy. 

Yet  these  men  do  not  scruple  to  utter  such  atrocious  sentiments 
as  the  following,  which  the  English  Independent,  Des.  3,  1868,  and 
other  liberal  organs  accepted  without  a  blush  : — 

During  the  late  severe  struggle  for  East  Esses  some  scores  of  Liberals, 
many  of  them  members  of  Dissenting  churches,  voted  for  the  two  Tory  can- 
didates or  plumped  for  one  of  them.  The  explanation  of  such  disreputable 
conduct  is  found  in  the  fact  that  most  of  these  men  had  been  pressed  and  worried 
beyond  all  endurance  by  parson  and  landlord  and  customer.  Amongst  the  last  of 
those  who  voted  at  the  Colchester  booth  on  Thursday  last  was  a  member  of  a 
k2 


263 
Dissecting  Church  who  plumped  for  Round!      [Dreadful!]      The  bare 

STATEMENT   OF    THE    HUMILIATING    FACT     IS     THE     STRONGEST     INDICTMENT   WE 

could  frame  against  the  man.  He  has  proved  false  to  the  grand  historic 
traditions  of  his  denomination,  and  has  disgraced  the  cause  with  which  he  pro- 
fesses to  be  identified. — Essex  Telegraph.    (Quoted  in  the  English  Indcpendcn  t.) 

While  so  fierce  and  rabid  against  men  vrho  use  an  independent 
judgment  on  the  other  side,  they  consider  it  a  great  crime  in  other 
people  to  imitate  them  in  a  very  mild  way.  Thus,  the  following  is 
quoted  in  the  English  Independent,  Dec.  17,  1868: — 

The  Zlanchester  Guardian  reports  that  an  outrageous  exhibition  of  party 
bigotry  was  witnessed  on  Sunday  in  St.  Philip's  Church,  Saiford.  The  Eev.  F. 
Hains,  of  "Wigan — a  clergyman  who  has  of  late  come  scmewhat  prominently 
before  the  public  as  a  supporter  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  measores — was  announced  to 
preach  a  sermon  in  aid  of  the  Additional  Curates'  Fund.  No  interruption  of  any 
kind  occurred  during  the  prayers,  but  as  the  rev.  gentleman  was  about  to  enter 
the  pulpit  some  twenty  or  thirty  persons  rose  and  left  the  church, 
some  of  them  on  their  way  to  the  door  shouting  "  No  Popery."  It  is  stated  that 
the  brawlers  do  not  belong  to  the  congregation. 

Now,  if  Mr.  Hajns  had  been  a  Dissenter  and  taken  the  other  side, 
they  would  have  turned  him  out  of  the  pulpit,  as  they  have  done 
me,  and  they  rejoice  in  the  iniquity. 

But  I  am  more  concerned  to  warn  Dissenters  against  another  error 
and  immediate  danger,  wherein  their  leaders,  having  given  up  their 
principles  of  voluntaryism,  and  agreed  to  accept  state  pay  for  deno- 
minational schools,  can  no  more  face  a  clergyman  about  the  alleged 
State  support  of  religion ;  for  all  denominational  schools  are  little 
State  churches,  and  worse,  because  the  Church  has  property,  while 
taxes  are  forced  out  of  the  sinews  of  the  people  by  compulsoryism. 

Now,  as  I  demonstrated  in  "  Gladstone  and  Justice  to  Ireland," 
— the  Aytoun  debate — that  the  suspensory  statesmen,  who  deluded 
the  Liberals,  are  ready  to  transfer  Irish  Church  property  to  Eomish 
denominational  schools,  which  Mr.  Bright  expressly  pleaded  for, 
and  Mr.  Gladstone  "  refused  outright"  to  vote  against — what  can 
we  Dissenters  say  against  endowing  Popery  in  the  form  of  schools, 
which  are  ecclesiastical  nurseries,  and  feed  monks  and  nuns,  and 
starve  the  minds  of  the  children,  and  blind  their  eyes  in  the  most 
slavish  depression  impudently  called  education  ?  Now  this  is 
what  the  priests  are  clamouring  for,  and  Mr.  Gladstone  has  to 
satisfy  them  and  "pacify  Ireland,"  which  means  the  priests,  of 
whom  the  Saturday  Review  says,  though  it  is  Anti-Irish  Church, 
"  it  is  their  business  not  to  be  content  " 

Liberationist  Dissenters  have  lost  the  power  to  speak  against 
this  endowment  of  popery:  for  Mr.  Gladstone  can  say  to  Mr. 
Baines  : — "  You  have  taught  me  to  do  justice  by  equality  in  Ireland, 


269 

and  now  that  yon  say  that  yon  will  take  state  money  for  rout 
schools,  would  it  be  equality  not  t©  pacify  the  priest,  with  a  share 
of  the  spoils  ? 

Mr.  Miall,  who  never  had  bnt  one  idea,  and  gave  that  np  before 
going  down  to  Bradford,  now  submits  to  Mr.  Gladstone's  "  logic  of 
events,"  and  will  have  compulsory  education.  Homerton  college,  our 
Congregational  training  school,  is  now  inspected  and  paid  by  govern- 
ment; and  Mr.  Baines,  who  like  Mr.  Miall  spent  his  life  in  advo- 
cating what  he  is  now  repudiating,  attended  a  meeting  in  Halifax, 
reported  in  the  Leech  Mercury  and  the  English  Independent  (Feb. 
11,  1889,)  in  favour  of  this  institution,  in  which  he  said  as  chair- 
man : — "  It  had  been  found  necessary  to  depart  from  the  principle 
of  voluntary  action,  on  which  the  college  was  originally  formed." 
And  in  this  they  depart  from  the  principles  on  which  Dissent  is 
based,  and  by  which  alone  we  can  consistently  oppose  the  present 
demands  of  a  hungry  priesthood.  Mr.  Baines  said  "  they  had 
fought  a  noble  battle  on  the  highest  principle,"  and  in  the  same 
breath  admits  that  he  has  nobly  abandoned  his  high  principle  "  and 
was  ready  to  admit  that  they  would  have  been  more  wise"  if,  like 
others,  they  had  "  taken  Government  money  feom  the  beginning." 
(English  Independent,  Feb.  11,  1869.) 

The  Education  Question  is  the  most  dangerous  and  the  most  important. 
It  is  here  where  the  Papists  are  pressing  in,  and  the  Liberationist  Dissenters  are 
opening  the  door,  though  they  know  the  danger,  but  from  fidelity  to  their  party 
they  are  faithless  to  their  principles. 

The  English  Independent  states  it  clearly  and  betrays  us  as  boldly.  Respecting 
the  "  Xo  Popery"  cry,  it  admits  it  to  be  good  for  Spain,  while  bad  for  England. 
So  of  the  priestly  education  which  Spain  has  repudiated,  the  same  paper  admits 
its  badness  for  France,  and  winks  at  its  introduction  to  Ireland  and  England. 
Speaking  of  the  French  Emperor's  desire  to  weaken  the  power  of  the  priesthood, 
this  paper  said  :  — "  His  obvious  resource  is  education  ;  an  education  that  shall 
not  be  controlled  by  the  Church  [of  Eome]  but  by  the  State."  '*He  encouraged 
throughout  the  empire  classes  for  girls  taught  by  lav.:\ien,  as  antidotes  to  tlie 
education  of  the  convent,  [which  our  Government  pats  at  Hull]  hitherto  [con- 
vents have  been]  the  sole  source  of  female  instruction  in  France.  This  blow  at 
the  root  of  theie  power  is  furiously  resented  by  the  hierarchy.  Dr.  Cullen  and 
Archbishop  Longley  denounce,  the  one,  the  Godless  colleges,  and  the  other,  the 
attempt  to  sever  religion  TEomanism]  from  education." — English  Independent, 
June  4,  1868. 

Now  this  acknowledged  "  root  of  the  power"  of  the  priesthood  is  not  to  receive 
a  "  blow"  in  Ireland,  but  a  pension  out  of  the  Protestaat  church's  sequestrated 
property.  This  is  the  only  plan  brought  out  up  to  February,  1869,  though  this 
same  paper  says  that  "  a  mixed  education"  is  the  plan  ••  that  will  countervail 
the  influence  of  the  EoiiisH  priesthood."  (June  IS.  Ib68.)  Xow  the 
priests  are  insisting  on  our  abandoning  this  unpriestly  education  ;  they  claim  a 
14  denominational"  system,  which  Bright  and  Gladstone  agreed  to,  one  by  silence, 
e3 


270 

the  ether  hy  speech,  in  ihe  Aytoun  debate  ;  and  Liberation  Dissenters  not 
only  back  them,  but  set  the  priests  the  example  of  taking  money  for  denomi- 
national schools.  The  Rev.  C.  Spurgeon  saw  the  danger  at  the  time,  but  has 
gone  silent.  However,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Arthur's  "  tongue  of  fire"  will,  I  hope, 
warm  the  Wesleyans,  as  he  now  says — what  I  said  at  first  in  "  Gladstone  and 
Justice  to  Ireland," — all  which  is  coming  true  ;  and  those  who  were  for  a  time 
duped  by  my  interested  liberation  maligners,  will  turn  from  them  to  me,  after  an 
ancient  example  : — 

Unus  homo  nobis  cunctando  constituit  rem  : 

Non  ponebat  enim  rumor°s  ante  salutem, 

Ergo  postque  magisque  virei  nunc  gloria  claret.* 

He  who  did  not  place  rumours,  or  immediate  personal  fame,  before  the  public 
safety,  is  still  a  good  example,  and  his  followers  being  few  must  be  distinguished. 

If  my  "  Ejection"  and  another  advocate's  promotion,  had  not  followed  so 
quickly  on  the  heels  of  our  advocacy,  it  would  have  been  more  creditable  to  the 
authors  of  both. 

But  I  must  still  warn  my  countrymen  if  I  lose  my  friends,  who  wanted  me 
to  "curse  Israel," — to  answer  the  Rev.  J.  D.  Massixgham,  in  Sheffield,  on  which 
condition  the  Rev.  David  Loxt  ox  offered  to  take  the  chair  :  as  at  other  places  I 
was  written  to  and  asked  to  buttress  Mr.  Gladstoxe's  equivocal  move,  and  was 
told  how  much  it  would  be  to  my  advantage.  But  I  preferred  to  lose,  and 
did  lose,  and  do  lose,  and  so  far  as  Liberationists  are  concerned,  should  be 
lost  and  ruined.  I  preferred  this,  to  bartering  my  honesty,  in  colleaguing 
with  that  temporary  insanity  into  which  leading  dissenters  were  duping  their 
followers.  I  recommend  to  the  misleading  spirits  the  question  of  old  Enntus  : — 
Qu5  vobis  menteis,  rectae  quae  stare  solebant 
Ante  hac,  dementi  sese  rlexere  ruina  ?  t 

Even  Samuel  Mori.ey,  Esq.,  M.P.,  who  could  not  be  professionally  deposed 
and  straitened  in  his  means,  was  attacked  in  his  character,  because  he,  while 
going  with  the  attack  on  the  Irish  church,  did  not  think  the  same  necessary 
in  relation  to  the  English  church. 

It  is  true  that  in  this  respect  Mr.  Morley  agreed  with  the  present  "  verbal 
utterances"  of  Mr.  Gladstone,  but  then,  as  the  English  Independent  intimated, 
Mr.  Gladstone  is  in  a  •'  suspensory"  state,  and  by  at  present  repudiating 
all  intention  of  attacking  the  one,  is  the  more  able  to  depose  the  other ;  and 
then  will  be  prepared  to  obey  further  the  "logic  of  events." 

The  readiness  of  the  Liberationists  to  back  up  the  Romanists  is  especially 
exemplified  by  Mr.  Miall,  of  the  Nonconformist,  in  which  paper  of  October 
II,  1868,  he  uttered  these  memorable  words  : — 

"  We  want  to  adopt  a  policy  which  will  bear  evidence  upon  the  face  of  it 
that  it  has  been  framed  with  a  view  to  satisfy  Irish  Roman  Catholic 
feeling.  It  is  their  will,  not  our  own,  that  we  desire  that  policy  to  express." — 
Noncojiformist,  Oct  14. 

He  told  the  people  of  Bradford  that  he  "  opposed  the  inspection  of  Nunneries  " 
— those  living  tombs  of  deluded  women, — and  mentioned  other  things,  saying 
"These  are  my  titles  to  the  political  confidence  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Yoteks 
of  Bradford."  Are  not  these  reasons  for  the  Protestant  voters  withholding  their 
confidence  from  these  allies  of  the  Papacy  ? 

*  Fragmenta  Ennii,  Ex.  xn.  Annal. 
+  Fragmenta  Ex.  v.  Annal. 


271 

This  bold  avowal  of  a  desire  to  "satisfy  Ikish  Roman  Catholic  feeling," 
is  a  proof  of  how  far  the  Liberationists  will  go  in  liberating  us  from  Protestantism. 
As  ior  Dissent,  which  is  based  on  "Willinghood,  and  is  a  general  principle  of  free 
trade,  in  opposition  to  protection,  relying  on  free  individual  effort  and  responsi- 
bility, apart  from  Government  force,  favour,  or  pay,  Mr.  Miall  has  abandoned 
that.    As  I  said  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Morley — He  never  had  but  one  idea,  and 

HE    HAS    GIVEN    THAT    UP. 

Like  Mr.  Gladstone,  he  believes  in  repudiation  of  all  that  he  has  lived  to 
advocate.  This  one  idea  was  christened  by  him  "  Willinghood'*  :  and  he  left 
his  pulpit  and  the  ministry  to  rock  that  baby  in  the  Nonconformist  cradle.  But 
at  Eradford  he  tells  them  "that  this  baby  is  only  a  doll  which  he  has  been  singing 
and  talking  to  so  long,  and  about  which  he  wrote  articles  headed,  "  Take  care  of 
the  baby." 

When  be  gave  up  "  willinghood"  in  education,  he  gave  up  the  principle  on 
which  he  had  defended  "  willinghood"  in  religion :  for  these  were  his  Siamese 
twins,  and  one  cannot  well  survive  the  other.  Education  is  to  be  supported  for 
its  moral  effects,  and  his  principle  was,  that  Government  is  confined  to  material 
questions. 

He  told  them  at  Bradford  that  events  had  been  too  many  for  him ;  which 
means  that  he  succumbed  to  adverse  opinion,  and  pocketed  his  principles  for  the 
sake  of  popularity. 

He  is  now  for  compulsion,  on  compulsion  rather  than  on  conviction. 

He  proposed,  and  recorded  his  proposal  of,  a  vote  of  confidence  in  two  can- 
didates for  Parliament,  who  had  just  avowed  their  disbelief  in  '  disestablishing 
the  English  church ;'  the  tbing  for  which  his  paper  was  established. 

This  parly  condemned  Mr.  Morley  for  saying  the  same  thing  that  Mr.  Miall 
said  when  he  proposed  confidence  in  two  avowed  State  Churchmen. 

In  a  discussion  on  education,  in  the  West-Riding  Congregational 
Association,  the  Rev.  David  Loxton,  of  Sheffield,  describing  himself 
as  "  a  fossil  Dissenter,"  because  holding  to  those  principles  which  all 
other  dissenting  leaders  are  giving  up,  said  : — "  Dr.  Falding  had  held 
that  it  was  the  duty  of  the  State  to  create  morality.     If  that  was  so, 

it  Was  ALSO  THE  DUTY  OF  THE    STATE  TO  USE  THE  BEST  INSTRU3IENT  it 

could  to  attain  that  end."     He  means  religious  establishments  ;  and 
added,  "  If  they  accepted  State  aid  in  their  [denominational] 

SCHOOLS    THEY     CUT    AWAY    FROM    BENEATH  THEIR  FEET    THE    GROUND 

on  which  they  had  based  their  dissent." — (  West- Fading  Congre- 
gational Register  ior  1868. ) 

Now  it  was  precisely  on  this  principle  that  I  opposed  Mr.  Glad- 
stone's scholastical  policy  and  the  priests'  ecclesiastical  demands  ; 
yet  for  this  alone,  the  speaker  last  quoted-— a  friend  of  thirty  years' 
standing,  cut  his  old  companion  and  treats  him  as  a  moral  leper,  for 
carrying  out  what  Mr.  Loxton  himself  so  earnestly  professes  to 
believe.  If  this  ministerial  brother,  after  so  long  and  intimate  a 
friendship,  should  go  mourning  all  his  days  and  be  sleepless  half  his 
nights  during  my  wicked  revolt  against  Mr.  Gladstone,  which  "none 


272 

lamented  more"  than  another  clear  friend  on  the  Union  committee 
— if  the  greatest  liberal  in  Sheffield  was  too  full  for  utterance  when 
I  went  up  to  shake  hands  with  him,  what  could  be  expected  from 
his  "  weaker  brethren,"  such  as  the  Rev.  J.  P.  Gledstone,  as  well 
as  some  outside  our  denomination  among  the  other  liberal  branches  ? 
It  is  sometimes  grotesque  enough  to  see  the  mighty  fine  airs 
with  which  some,  with  whom  I  have  been  too  familiar — for  the 
most  conceited  know  that  I  never  treated  a  puffed-up  brother 
with  the  contempt  he  deserved — besides  that  I  aided  many  a 
brother  in  difficulty  as  they  all  know  ; — but  as  I  was  saying,  it  is 
grotesque  to  see  a-well-got  up  young  man  who  once  could  at  least 
smirk  if  not  smile  a  greeting  across  the  road,  now  raise  his  head — 
erect,  if  not  filled — over  "  that  column  of  true  majesty  in  man" 
called  the  spinal  column  ;  and,  with  that  feature  of  the  countenance 
— which  in  some  is  the  leading  one,  and  by  which  others  are  led, 
carefully  poised  between  horizontal  and  perpendicular,  and  the 
whites  of  the  upturned  eyes  visible, — all  as  an  attitude  of  appeal 
to  heaven  that  the  important  individual  so  attitudinizing,  perfectly 
but  humbly  coincides  with  the  Almighty,  in  any  judgments  which 
may  be  inflicted  on  the  sinful  brother  opposite,  with  whose  inde- 
pendence and  consistency  he  has  no  sympathy,  and  in  which,  God 
knows  he  has  no  share. 

There  are  exceptions,  but  I  dare  not  name  them,  or  they  would 
be  like  "Sister  Scholastica  "  among  the  "  Revd.  Mothers  "  who 
preside  over  the  "  sister  churches." 

But  I  will  mention  one  who  is  beyond  being  injured  in  his  pro- 
fession, having  retired  from  it — the  Rev.  Charles  Larom,  the 
respected  Baptist  minister,  who  has  seen  so  many  come  and  go,  but 
who  always  was  a  brother,  even  when  his  long  standing  and  charac- 
ter gave  him  the  position  of  a  father  in  the  ministry. 

There  is  one  other  thing  to  notice — that  both  locally  and  nation- 
ally, the  Liberationists  have  seen  the  necessity  of  not  accepting  my 
public  offer  to  prove  on  any  platform,  against  any  gentleman  the 
Liberation  society  might  select,  or  in  any  liberal  paper,  in  alternate 
letters,  this  thesis — "  That  no  Dissenter,  Liberationism  Liberal,  or 
Patriot,  can  honestly  and  intelligently  go  with  Mr.  Gladstone  in  his 
Irish  Church  gyrations." 

If  this  position  were  weak,  or  I  were  too  weak  to  hold  it,  they 
would  have  assailed  it : — but  they  assail  me  instead,  in  public  papers 
and  by  private  slanders  and  insults,  and  finally  by  that  shameful 
ejection,  which  I  trust  may  be  rescinded ;  and  that  by  denomina- 
tional opinion  and  national  opinion,  as  well  as  by  public  law,  I  may 


273 

be  both  restored  and  compensated  for  this  persecution,  the  resort 
and  refuge  of  those  who  so  violate  their  principles.  I  have  been 
compared  by  contrast  to  Abdiel  as  '  faithless  '  among  the  '  faithful; ' 
but  Milton's  lines  will  be  restored  : 

"  Faithful  among  the  faithless,  faithful  only  he." 

For  who  now  are  renegades — who  are  consistent  Dissenters — those 
who  so  cruelly  cried  down  Dr.  Vaughan  for  advocating  State  education, 
and  now  equally  cry  me  down  for  opposing  it  in  Mr.  Gladstone's 
sop  to  Popery ;  or  I,  who  never  changed  a  principle  that  I  ever 
held,  but  lost  my  way  for  honesty,  both  in  defending  our  old  prin- 
ciples of  orthodoxy  and  opposing  our  new  principles  of  tyranny  ? 

Now  all  Dissenters  are  prepared  to  touch  the  public  money,  and 
so  give  a  valid  liberal  argument  of  equality  on  behalf  of  the  priest 
and  his  school,  whose  cry  is  for  "  denominational  education," 
called  by  statesmen — "  Irish  purposes,"  to  which  the  proposed  dis- 
endowment  of  the  Irish  Church  is  to  contribute  so  handsomely.  Is 
it  not  "  time  to  awake  out  of  sleep  ?  "  The  Dissenters,  who  take  a 
few  pence  and  give  the  priest  an  argument  for  a  few  pounds,  not 
only  play  the  Pope's  game,  but  with  his  methods — of  stern,  secret, 
unrelenting  persecution.  I  hope  my  own  denomination  will  aid  me 
in  providing  means  for  the  prosecution  of  those  officials  who  enslave 
them  and  depose  me  ;  and  that,  tidied  by  their  own  principles  in  an 
impartial  court  of  law,  their  condemnation  will  be  a  vindication  of 
our  principles,  as  not  permitting  such  execution  by  a  secret  conclave 
of  Congregational  cardinals,  nor  even  allowing  "  a  mob  of  priests  " 
with  impunity  to  assassinate  one  who  would  fetch  the  jewel  of  the 
State's  supremacy  from  the  keeping  of  usurping  ecclesiastics. 


Chapter  XXXI. 
REV.  DE.  FALDING,  DISTRICT  SECRETARY. 

"  TO    THE    REV.    F.    J.    FALDING,    D.D. 

"Dear  Sir, — I  find  that  by  an  alteration  of  the  rules  respecting 
,the  list  of  Congregational  ministers— for  which  alteration  the 
committee  of  the  Congregational  Union  is  responsible — it  is  left 
solely  to  the  secretary  of  the  district  to  omit  sending  any  minister's 
name,  and  by  that  omission  to  remove  such  minister  from  the 
alphabetical  list  of  accredited  Congregational  ministers. 

"In  the  Sheffield  Union  meeting,  1866,  you  desired  that  this  ex- 
clusion might  be  performed  by  "  a  divided  authority;"  that  is,  you 


274 

did  Dot  wish  the  whole  responsibility  of  such  a  proceeding  to  rest 
on  you.  But  by  the  new  method  it  is  thrown  on  you  ;  and  what  is 
more,  if  I  may  rely  on  the  returns,  as  published  in  this  Year  Book, 
you  have  accepted  that  responsibility,  for,  while  sending  up  three 
names  as  of  ministers  resident  in  the  district,  without  "pastoral 
charge,"  you  have  omitted  my  name  ;  and  so  have  contributed  to 
what  the  English  Independent,  I  think,  calls  a  "judicious  weeding" 
the  list  of  ministers. 

"Now  it  is  true  that  I  have  offended  some  more  liberal  Irethren 
by  not  agreeing  with  Mr.  Gladstone's  uncertain  Irish  Church  policy; 
but  this  scarcely  seems  a  sufficient  reason  for  being  excluded  from 
the  list  of  Congregational  ministers. 

"It  is  also  true  that  I  differed  from  you  in  the  case  of  Mr. 
Vaughan  ;  but  as  Dr.  Smith  said  of  Mr.  Ashton  in  that  matter,  "No 
one  could  imagine  that  a  name  would  be  omitted  from  any  private 
pique  or  prejudice,"  I  give  you  the  same  credit ;  and  as  in  the 
report  in  this  Year  Book  Dr.  Smith  said  "  it  was  left  to  the  district 
secretary,"  as  "providing for  the  removal  of  none  without  a  sufficient 
•reason,"  I  beg  to  be  informed  what  your  reason  was  for  emitting  my 
name. 

"Pardon  me  for  adding  that  you  are  responsible  to  me,  to  the 
denomination,  to  the  Christian  public  at  large,  and  let  me  say  in  all 
charity,  that  you  are  responsible  to  Christ,  for  either  doing  this 
extraordinary  act,  or  for  permitting  your  name  as  secretary  to  stand 
at  the  head  of  a  list  supposed  to  come  from  you,  from  which  my 
name  is  excluded. 

"It  is  for  you  to  repudiate  or  justify  the  course  for  which  your 
name  is  publicly  employed  as  the  guarantee. 

"  I  regard  this  as  a  very  serious  matter,  in  which  your  own 
honour  and  that  of  our  denomination  is  involved. 

"  I  need  not  say  that  the  question  cannot  rest  where  it  is:  and 
that  such  a  reward  for  independence  in  defending  the  truth  of  the 
gospel  against  Neological  protesters  and  ajieretical  professor,  and 
defending  Protestantism  against  the  combination  of  infidels,  priests, 
liberals,  and  equivocal  statesmen,  will  not  redound  to  the  credit  of 
those  who,  while  professing  to  be  the  special  friends  of  freedom, 
1  use  their  liberty  as  a  cloak  of  maliciousness.' — (I  Pet.  ii.  16.) 

"  It  will  be  agreeable  to  me  to  be  able  to  exonerate  you  from  this 
odious  act  of  private  irresponsible  tyranny,  the  illegal  power  to 
do  which  is  put  into  your  hands  by  the  committee  of  the  Congre- 
gational Union,  contrary  to  the  decision  of  the  assembly  in  London, 
18G8,  and  in  contravention  of  the  resolution  passed  in  Sheffield, 
1866,  u-lucli  has  never  been  carried  out. 


275 

"  It  is  witb  the  utmost  regret  and  shame  that  I  write  this  of  the 
conduct  of  Christian  ministers,  towards  one  whose  only  fault,  so 
far  as  they  are  concerned,  is — forgive  the  boast — that  he  has  done 
and  suffered  more  for  Christianity  in  England  than  even  the  chief 
among  them,  though  as  in  the  sight  of  God  he  be  as  nothing. 

"  I  await  your  answer,  which  I  trust  may  be  satisfactory,  so  far 
as  your  part  in  this  matter  is  concerned. 

' '  Yours  faithfully, 

«  BREWIN  GRANT.* 


Dr.  Faldtng's  Reply. 

"  Rotherham  College,  Jan.  13,  1869. 
"  Sir, — I  know  nothing  about  the  removal  of  your  name  from  the 
list  of  accredited  ministers  in  the  Congregational  Year  Book.  I  was 
not  aware  that  it  had  been  removed  until  informed  by  your  letter. 
I  have  accepted  no  responsibility  whatever  for  the  contents  of  the 
Year  Book,  nor  had  I  anything  to  do  with  the  removal  of  Mr. 
Vaughan's  name  from  that  list.  In  connection  with  this  last- 
named  matter,  I  gave  you  the  opportunity  of  satisfying  yourself  by 
a  personal  interview..  You  did  not  think  proper  to  avail  yourself  of 
the  invitation.     I  now  renew  it,  and  am,  Sir,  vours  faithfully, 

"F.  J.  FALDING. 
"  Rev.  B.  Grant,  B.A.,  Sheffield." 


As  this  carefully  avoided  the  real  question,  while  seeming  so  fully 
to  answer  it,  I  wrote  this 

Second  Letter  to  Dr.  Falsing. 

"  Sheffield,  Jan.  14,  18G9. 

"  Dear  Sir, — I  thank  you  for  your  reply,  and  shall  be  further 
obliged  when  you  inform  me  whether  you  had  been  told  of  the  new 
rule  made  by  the  Congregational  Union  committee  and  printed  in 
the  Year  Book  for  1869,  p.  400  : — '  No  names  are  allowed  to 
appear  but  those  which  are  returned  to  the  editor  by  the  secretaries 
of  county  associations,'  &c.  The  list  is  described  as  of  '  Indepen- 
dent ministers,  &c,  whose  names  have  been  furnished  by  secretaries 
of  county  associations,'  &c. 

"  From  this  list  my  name  is  omitted,  as  not  having  been  'fur- 
nished' by  you.  I  assume  from  your  letter  that  you  were  not  aware 
that  this  would  be  the  effect  of  your  omission  ;  and  since  it  is  so 
used,  to  my  detriment  and  your  discredit,  it  is  for  you  to  repudiate 
such  employment  of  your  name.  Your  letter  does  not  meet  this 
point : — Did  you  intend,  or  do  you  still  desire,  that  any  act  or 


276 

omission  on  your  part  should  be  the  ground  for,  or  defence  of,  the 
committee's  action  in  regard  to  me  ?  That  you  '  have  accepted 
no  responsibility  whatever  for  the  contents  of  the  Year  Book'  can 
scarcely  be  correct,  when  you  are  responsible  for  the  names  in  this 
district,  and  are  published  as  such. 

"  I  do  not  know  whether  your  proposal  of  '  a  personal  interview' 
may  refer  to  this  or  to  Mr.  Vaughan's  case ;  but  when  a  plain 
denial  of  the  crime  which  the  Year  Book  fixes  on  you  would  be 
accepted  as  an  exoneration,  if  you  cannot  give  this  in  writing,  then 
a  private  conversation  would  be  as  wide  of  the  mark  as  your  letter 
appears  to  be. 

"As  no  doubt  you  intended  that  letter  to  show  your  innocence, 
you  will  complete  your  vindication  by  an  answer  that  admits  of  but 
one  interpretation.     The  point  for  you  to  answer  is  stated  above. 

"  Awaiting  that  answer,  I  remain  yours  faithfully, 

"BREWIN  GRANT." 

"  P.S. — After  stating  that  '  No  names  of  ministers  are  allowed  to 
appear  but  those  which  are  returned  to  the  editor  by  secretaries,'  &c, 
Mr.  Ashton,  the  editor,  adds, — '  The  preparation  of  the  returns  has 
been  made  this  year  in  accordance  with  this  rule.' 

"  This  accuses  you  of  wilfully  causing  the  omission  of  my  name 
from  the  Year  Book." 

The  above  postscript  was  sent  January  15. 


THE  REV.  DR.  FALDING  S  SECOND  REPLY. 

Rotherham  College,  Jan.  18th,  1869. 
"  Sir, — I  think  my  letter  to  you  '  admits  of  only  one  interpreta- 
tion" as  it  stands ;  but  as  you  think  otherwise,  I  will  use  your 
own  words  : — I  '  did'  not  '  intend,'  nor  '  do  '  I  '  still  desire  that 
any  act  or  omission  on '  my  '  part  should  be  the  ground  for  a 
defence  of  the  committee's  action  in  regard  to'  you  ;  all  of  which  I 
said  more  clearly  and  strongly  in  the  words  of  my  letter  : — '  I  know 
nothing  about  the  removal  of  your  name  from  the  list  of  accredited 
ministers  in  the  Congregational  Year  Book :'  in  fact,  the  idea  of 
removing,  or  in  any  way  causing  the  removal  of  you  name,  never 
entered  my  mind  or  '  desire'  at  all.  That  'I  have  accepted  no 
responsibility  whatever  for  the  contents  of  the  Year  Book'  is  (!) 
correct.'  As  to  the  new  ride  made  by  the  Congregational  Union 
committee,  and  printed  in  the  Year  Book  for  1869,  1  never  heard  of 
its  existence,  until  I  read  it  in  your  letters  of  the  15th  and  16th 
inst.,  and  have  never  been  told  that  such  a  rule  was  likely  to  be 
made. 


277 

"  You  seem  to  differ  from  me  as  to  the  use  of  a  personal  interview 
for  which  I  have  given  you  opportunity.  I  presumed  that  that 
was  the  best  way  to  arrive  at  a  manly  and  honest  understanding 
and  settlement  on  both  sides.  You  appear  to  prefer  a  method 
which  can  most  readily  be  turned  to  one-sided  account  in  pamphlets 

AND  NEWSPAPERS. 

"I  am,  Sir,  yours  trulv, 

"  F.  j".  FALDING." 


Answer  to  Dr.  Falding's  Second  Reply. 

"  Sheffield,  January  19,  18G9. 

"  Dear  Sir, — Your  second  letter  entirely  exonerates  you  from 
having  wilfully  acted  under  the  new  rule,  according  to  which 
Mr.  Ashton  said  the  returns  were  made. 

"  There  remains  now  that  other  question  which  I  have  put  in 
several  forms.  Did  you  return  to  Mr.  Ashton,  as  a  list  of  ministers 
resident  in  this  district,  with  or  without  pastoral  charge,  one  from 

WHICH    MY    NAME    WAS    OMITTED  ? 

"  You  are  represented  as  having  done  so  in  the  printed  returns. 
Do  you  still  permit  yourself  to  be  represented  as  my  private  pro- 
fessional executioner  ?    Was  this  your  act  and  deed  ? 

"  If  I  seem  to  trouble  you  too  much,  pray  remember  that  I  am 
■fighting  for  life  and  reputation,  through  an  act  of  which  the  Year 
Book  accuses  you,  on  your  own  authority,  and  by  which  the  editor 
excuses  himself. 

"  You  have  already  distinctly  answered  his  accusation,  that  he 
had  your  authority  for  striking  my  name  out  of  the  general  list : 
will  you  now  equally  exonerate  yourself  from  his  printed  accusa- 
tion, that  you  set  him  the  example  by  omitting  me  from  the  local 
list  ?  "  Yours  faithfully, 

"  The  Rev.  F.  J.  Falding,  D.D."  "  Brewin  Grant.'* 

"  P.S. — The  last  '  Congregational  Register  for  the  West  Riding 
of  Yorkshire,'  (p.  114)  also  accuses  you,  as  secretary  of  the  district, 
of  omitting  my  name  from  your  returns,  which  may  have  happened 
in  the  case  of  Mr.  Vaughan  ;  although  his  name,  like  mine,  was 
put  by  the  editor  into  the  general  alphabetical  list." 


"  Rotherham  College, 

January  27,  1869. 
"  Sir, — You  have  never  before  asked  me  the  '  question'  in  any 
form  which  in  your  letter  of  the  i9th  instant  you  say  you  '  have 
put  in  several  forms.' 


278 

"  You  have  assumed  that  I  have  '  omitted'  something  which  I 
ought  not  to  have  omitted,  and  you  have  charged  me  with  having 
done  so,  but  on  this  occasion  as  on  a  previous  one,  you  first  accuse 
and  then  enquire. 

"  Yet  as  you  have  now  asked  the  question,  I  will  answer  it  also. 

"  I  have  not  omitted  your  name  from  any  list  on  which  it  had  a 
right  to  stand. 

"  At  the  last  meeting  of  the  Sheffield  and  Doncaster  District  of 
the  West  Riding  Congregational  Union  and  Home  Mission  Society, 
held  in  Howard-street  chapel,  Sheffield,  on  March  9th,  1888,  and 
very  fully  attended  by  the  ministers  and  delegates  of  the  district,  I 
prepared  in  open  meeting  a  list  containing  the  names  of  churches 
and  ministers,  being  members  of  the  West  Riding  Congregational 
Union,  within  the  district.  This  list,  made  out  in  the  meeting,  was 
read  aloud,  and  received  the  authority  and  sanction  of  the  whole 
meeting. 

"  It  contained  neither  your  name  nor  that  of  the  church  of  which 
you  were  then  pastor,  and  for  the  reason  then  and  there  2)ublichj 
stated.  The  list  was  required,  by  the  rules  of  the  society  and  by  the 
instruction  of  the  general  secretary,  to  be  a  list  exclusively  of 
ministers  and  churches  in  actual  membership  with  the  Union,  and 
as  you  were  not  a  member  of  the  Union  your  name  was  not 
placed  on  the  list. 

"  That  you  were  not  in  membership,  and  consequently  that  your 
name  was  not  included  in  the  list,  ivas  entirely  and  solely  your  own 
doing.  Previous  to  the  meeting  the  general  secretary  wrote  twice 
to  you,  and  I  as  district  secretary  once,  to  call  your  attention  to  the 
rules  of  the  society,  and  to  request  you  to  inform  us  whether  you 
intended  to  comply  wTith  them  and  so  qualify  for  membership,  but 
neither  of  us  received  any  reply  from  you,  and  you  never  complied 
with  the  rules  and  never  joined  the  society.  For  that  reason,  and 
that  alone,  as  publicly  stated  in  the  meeting,  your  church  and  your- 
self were  not  entered  on  the  list  prepared  for  publication  under  the 
care  of  the  general  secretary.  You  will  find  the  rules  in  accord- 
ance with  which  this  was  done,  in  the  West  Riding  Congregational 
Register  for  1868,  pages  184-5,  together  with  the  regulations  of  the 
executive  committee,  pages  48-9,  &c.  ;  also  lists  on  pages  114  and 
116. 

"To  transmit  the  list  thus  prepared  and  authorised  by  the  disHct 
meeting  to  the  general  secretary,  is  the  only  thing  I  was  bound  od>, 
and  I  did  transmit  it  intact,  to  be  subjected  to  his  revision  an<  u  i 
in  his  preparation  for  the  register.      But  I  did  more ;  I  rotoruJl 


279 

your  name  and  that  of  your  church  and  did  not  '  omit'  it  in  a 
smaller  list  of  churches  and  ministers  resident  in  the  district  but 
not  members  of  the  Union.  If  you  had  not  resigned  your  pastoral 
charge  in  the  interval  between  my  sending  the  list  and  the  printing 
of  the  register,  your  name  would  have  appeared  both  in  the  list  of 
churches  on  page  114  and  in  the  alphabetical  list  on  page  116.  I 
presume  it  was  subsequently  struck  out  by  the  editor  after  your 
resignation,  but  inserted  in  the  alphabetical  list,  with  the  usual  mark 
to  denote  a  minister  without  charge. 

"  In  the  same  way  later  in  the  year  in  November  I  think,  I 
returned  your  name  to  the  editor  of  the  Year  Book.  In  the  usual 
schedule  furnished  by  him  I  wrote  your  name  as  having  resigned 
your  church,  as  living  in  the  district,  but  as  not  being  a  member  of 
the  county  association.  Why  your  name  nowhere  appears  in  the 
Year  Book,  I  have  already  said,  I  know  not. 

"Had  you  attended  the  district  meeting  referred  to  as  you  might 
have  done,  or  had  you  called  upon  mo  to  enquire  on  the  matter, 
this  correspondence  might  have  been  spared.  At  all  events  I  pre- 
sume you  will  neither  expect  nor  desire  that  I  should  continue  it. 

'•  I  am,  Sir,  yours  truly, 

F.  J.  FALDING." 

"  P.S. — I  ought,  perhaps,  in  my  second  letter,  to  have  mentioned 
the  possibility  of  some  notice  having  been  sent  me  by  printed  cir- 
cular, of  the  adoption  of  the  new  regulations  contained  in  the  18G9 
Year  Book.  This  possibility  did  not  occur  to  me  when  writing,  as 
I  have  no  recollection  of  any  information  being  sent  to  me.  And 
this  does  not  affect  my  statement.  If  my  consent  to  the  regulations 
had  been  asked  previously  to  their  adoption  and  publication  I 
should  have  declined  to  give  it.  And  when  they  are  published 
without  my  knowledge,  I  do  not  accept  any  responsibility  whiah 
they  may  seem  to  throw  on  the  district  secretaries." 


"Sheffield,  Jan.  30th,  1869. 
"Dear  Sir, — Your  extra  delay,  and  the  unhappy  and  unhand- 
some conclusion  of  your  second  letter,  caused  me  to  despair  of 
receiving  a  third,  which,  however,  came  to  hand  last  night.  The 
form  in  which  I  put  the  question  to  you  before  was,  whether  you 
would  still  permit  your  name  to  appear  as  secretary  to  a  list  from 
which  mine  is  excluded.  I  told  you  that  you  were  responsible, 
either  for  doing  the  act  or  for  permitting  your  name  to  be  employed 
to  sanction  it. 


280 

"  You  first  denied  all  knowledge  of  the  *  rule  '  by  which  your 
omission  to  name  me  on  the  local  list  would  remove  my  name 
from  the  category  of  Independent  ministers  in  England.  I  accepted 
your  word.  I  then  asked,  whether  you  did  send  a  list  without  my 
name.  I  did  not  '  accuse  and  then  enquire.'  I  told  you  that  Mr. 
Ashton  accused  you  of  having  made  your  returns  on  this  new 
principle,  and  further,  that  the  '  West  Riding  Register'  and  the 
*  Congregational  Year  Book'  both  accused  you  of  omitting  my  name 
from  those  of  ministers  in  your  district,  and  that  Mr.  Ashton's 
Year  Book  justified  the  excommunication  of  me  on  the  ground  of 
your  local  returns,  to  which  your  name  is  appended  as  guarantee. 
I  asked  whether  you  were  guilty  of  this.  You  in  effect  not  only 
say  '  No,'  but  you  accuse  the  Rev.  Robert  Ashton,  editor  of  the 
Year  Book,  and  the  Rev.  J.  Hughes  Morgan,  editor  of  the  West 
Riding  Register,  of  falsifying  your  reports.  I  accept  your  account 
and  shall  apply  to  them. 

"But  as  your  name  still  stands  to  both  accounts,  and  now  with 
your  knowledge,  by  which  you  publicly  endorse  what  you  privately 
repudiate,  you  are  legally  and  morally  responsible  for  the  conse- 
quences of  allowing  your  name  to  deceive  the  public  and  to  injure 
me. 

"  Dr  Parker,  to  whom  you  expressed  yourself  as  'personally 
grateful  for  the  terms'  in  which  he  proposed  a  resolution  for  enquiry 
— in  which  speech  he  sold  me,  to  buy  off  you  and  Mr.  Ashton, 
— said  :  '  the  removal  of  a  name  [from  the  list  of  ministers] 
amounted  to  ministerial  deposition;  was,  in  fact,  a  species  of 
excommunication,  fraught  with  the  gravest  consequences  to  individual 
ministers. 

"  These  *  consequences'  I  am  suffering,  and  your  name  is  used  as 
the  pretext  and  instrument  of  infliction.  This  is  the  only  pretext, 
and  you  know  it,  and  you  say  that  the  pretext  is  false.  All  that  you 
have  to  do,  therefore,  to  escape  the  odium  and  danger  into  which 
you  are  brought,  by  publicly  sanctioning  what  you  privately  deny, 
is  to  purge  yourself  from  legal  and  moral  complicity,  by  no  longer 
being  guilty,  through  permission  and  compliance,  in  the  allowed 
public  use  of  your  name.  The  act  in  which  you  at  present  publicly 
conspire  takes  the  gospel  out  of  my  mouth  and  the  bread  out  of  my 
children's ;  and  you  stand  silently  by,  consenting  to  and  sharing  in  the 
deed.  Your  reference  to  a  meeting  of  delegates  is  an  irrelevance, 
aud  no  public  reading  of  a  list  of  your  subscribing  members  would 
justify  you  or  any  one  else  in  saying  that  I  am  not  a  Congregational 
minister  residing  in  the  district. 


281 

"  Your  final  declaration  that  you  do  '  not  accept  the  responsi- 
bility which  they  [the  new  rules]  seem  to  throw  on  the  secretaries,' 
will  not  pass  either  for  law  or  gospel.  Whether  I  expect  or  desire 
you  to  continue  this  correspondence  is  of  no  moment ;  it  is  your 
own  concern  whether  you  will  still  stand  before  the  world  as  signing 
that  act  of  my  '  ministerial  deposition,'  for  which  nothing  but  your 
name  is  the  guarantee,  against  which  you  protest  privately, — in  every 
degree  of  emphasis, — you  had  no  hand  in.  Your  name  is  your 
hand,  by  which  you  perpetrate  the  act,  till  you  publicly  purge 
yourself  from  what  you  privately  deny  and  openly  sanction. 

Yours  faithfully, 

BREWIN  GRANT. 
"  The  Rev.  F.  J.  Faldixg,  D.D." 


"  Rotherham  College,  Feb.  9,  1869. 

"  Sir, — I  beg  to  acknowledge  your  last  letter.  Having  answered 
at  least  every  question  which  you  had  a  right  to  put,  I  decline  to 
notice  the  twisting  of  words  and  perversion  of  facts  contained  in 
your  letters. 

"  I  have  permitted  myself  to  enter  into  this  correspondence  not 
because  I  thought  for  a  moment  that  you  cared  to  know  the  truth  or 
justice  of  the  matter,  nor  because  I  cared  to  ward  off  from  myself 
the  abuse  which  you  seem  to  find  pleasure  in  uttering,  but  because 
I  thought  it  right  to  shew  the  hollowness  of  your  pretence  of  being 
persecuted  on  account  of  any  opinions  which  you  have  chosen  to 
advocate.  For  this  reason  I  shall  feel  at  liberty  to  publish  this 
correspondence  if  at  any  time  I  think  proper  to  do  it. 

"  I  am,  Sir,  yours  truly, 

"  F.  J.  FALDIXG." 


"  Dear  Sir, — I  have  received  your  letter  begun  'February  9th,' 
and  finished  for  post  late  on  February  11th,  and  I  am  obliged  by 
the  proof  which  it  affords  of  what  it  denies,  namely,  that  I  am 
1  persecuted  on  account  of  any  opinions  I  have  chosen  to  advocate.' 
I  equally  thank  you  for  contradicting  yourself  again  in  the  absurd 
observation,  after  a  lengthened  incubation,  that  you  '  decline  to 
notice  the  twisting  of  words  and  perversion  of  facts  contained  in  my 
letters.'  Perhaps  I  had  better  explain  that  this  was  '  noticing,'  or 
rather  inventing,  such  '  perversions.'  I  am  more  particularly  gratefu 


282 

for  your  frankness  in  telling  me  that  you  did  '  not  think  for  a  moment 
that  I  cared  to  know  the  truth  or  justice  of  the  matter.'  No  doubt 
you  dictated  this  from  that  critical  maxim,  '  Look  into  your  own 
heart  and  write.' 

Your  liberty  to  publish  this  correspondence  may  be  turned  into 
compulsion,  as  you  join  those  two  rev.  mothers,  Mrs.  Star  and  Mrs. 
M'Owne.  If  you  destroy  these  letters,  as  they  did  certain  documents, 
for  conscience  sake,  I  have  your  originals  and  my  copies. 

"  You  are  still  convicted  out  of  your  own  mouth  of  permitting 
your  name  publicly  to  cover  my  '  ministerial  deposition, '  while  in 
private  you  repudiate  what  you  openly  perpetrate  by  conniving  at. 
Wishing  for  you  more  facility  and  better  temper  in  answering 
letters,  I  remain  yours  faithfully, 

■■  BREWIN  GRANT." 


L'EXVOI. 

I  cannot  help  thinking  that  some  of  my  readers  will  wish  to  know 
after  all,  how  I  am  placed,  and  what  I  purpose  doing.  It  is  to  such 
friendly  ears  that  I  make  this  frank  confession  : — This  book  does 
not  express,  nor  can  any  book,  the  deep  darkness  and  almost  agony 
which  for  some  time  I  experienced,  after  my  return  from  prostrating 
labours,  and  clangers,  and  "  perils  among  false  brethren,"  a  fortnight 
before  Christmas.  Nothing  but  blackness  was  before  me.  My 
preaching  was  gone,  on  which  I  had  relied  for  half  my  support  in 
my  general  public  ministry.  My  character  was  gone,  so  far  as  such 
persons  as  edit  our  semi-denominational  papers,  the  Nonconformist 
and  the  English  Independent,  and  the  baser  Sheffield  one,  could 
warp  the  minds  of  Dissenters,  by  what  Mr.  Miall  calls,  and  knows — 
"  unscrupulous  venomousness  ;  "  not  one  of  whom  dare  represent  me 
truly  or  let  me  represent  myself  in  his  columns.  Besides  these, 
such  speakers  as  had  made  themselves  prominent  in  glorifying  Mr. 
Gladstone's  policy,  of  which  they  are  still  ignorant,  were  bound 
both  not  to  meet  me  in  argument,  and  to  justify  their  cowardice  by 
their  malice  in  maligning  me.  Not  only  was  my  good  name  gone — 
as  it  then  seemed  to  me  in  that  darkness — so  far  as  the  denomination 
was  concerned  in  and  for  which  I  had  laboured,  and  whose  principles 
1  held  and  hold — but  my  means  were  gone,  my  pocket  was  empty, 
and  so  far  as  the  sale  of  myself  for  tory  gold  was  concerned,  I  was  a 
hundred  pounds  out  of  pocket  for  extensive  printing  and  gratuitous 
circulation  of  papers,  and  other  incidental  expenses. 


283 

As  to  the  future,  nncl  as  a  minister,  my  way  was  blocked  up  ;  and 
I  should  have  been  more  painfully  straitened  if,  during  my  hard 
tour  of  lecturing,  my  son,  some  months  under  his  majority,  had  not 
taken  my  pecuniary  affairs  into  his  own  hands,  and  raised  my  terms 
for  lecturing,  which  then  scarcely  covered  my  travelling  expenses. 
I  owe  to  the  same  fealty,  the  management  of  my  correspondence, 
answering  some  seven  hundred  letters  of  subscribers,  and  making 
all  business  arrangements  for  the  issue  of  this  volume,  in  all  which 
matters  I  should  have  been  inextricably  confused.  The  darkness  and 
difficulties  above  referred  to,  occurred  before  it  came  out  that  the 
conspiracy  would  culminate  in  my  formal  exclusion,  by  the  Congrega- 
tional Union,  from  the  list  of  accredited  Congregational  ministers. 
That  act,  for  my  ruin,  will,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  awakening  the 
sympathy  of  man,  be  my  salvation. 

As  my  health  gradually  recovered,  my  mind  cleared :  a  few  friends, 
all  that  I  had  opportunity  of  calling  on,  contributed  something 
towards  my  losses.  I  began  to  feel  that  there  was  hope  yet ;  and 
the  definite  form  which  the  persecution  of  me  by  Liberationists 
had  assumed,  gave  me  a  plain  mark  to  shoot  at,  and  a  visible  enemy, 
which  aroused  my  courage,  and  I  felt  that  the  darkness  was  j^ast. 
I  blessed  God  and  took  heart. 

But  during  the  writing  of  my  life,  besides  two  cases  of  illness 
among  my  children,  one  of  which  in  particular  excited  my  fears, 
there  was  another  cloud  still  blacker,  but  happily  temporary,  as  the 
one  who  had  shared  my  fortunes,  and  more  than  half  supported  our 
family  by  her  own,  fell  into  a  low  nervous  way,  and  seemed  struck 
with  a  panic  fear,  after  I  had  recovered ;  and  the  forebodings  which 
for  a  little  time  came  upon  me,  and  which  I  dared  not  then  utter  to 
my  family,  and  which  they  will  see  only  in  print,  made  me  for  a 
time  fear  to  write,  lest  the  bitterness  of  this  new  calamity,  which  in 
my  mind  I  attributed  to  the  conspirators,  should  tinge  my  book  — 
which  indeed  could  not  have  been  finished  if  I  had  not  been  merci- 
fully delivered  both  from  the  fear  and  from  what  I  feared. 

I  wish  every  Dissenting  minister  had  as  good  a  house  and  house- 
hold as  we  have  hitherto  been  able  to  maintain,  in  moderate  com- 
fort, and  in  a  peace  and  mutual  love  which  can  be  surpassed  in  no 
house  this  side  heaven. 

God  has  mercifully  preserved  us  from  being  broken  in  upon  again 
by  the  dreaded  visitor,  and  I  doubt  not  He  will  raise  friends  to  help 
me  to  keep  necessity  at  the  staff's  end,  and  enable  me  to  maintain 
the  honourable  position  of  an  Independent  Minister  in  every  sense. 
As  a  pledge  of  this,  among  eighteen  letters  ordering  copies  of  my 


284 

Autobiography,  which  have  come  in  this  morning,  March  1,  1869, 
whilst  I  was  writing  the  preceding  sentences,  was  the  following  : — 


"February  27- 

"  My  dear  Friend, — The  letter  sent  to  you  by  Mr.  Ashton  is  not 
true ,  as  you  will  see  from  the  enclosed.  [From  the  Eev.  Dr.  Smith, 
Union  secretary.]  Dr.  Smith  must  know  'the  course  which  had 
been  previously  pursued  ;'  you  will  see  that  he  [Dr.  Smith]  wrote 
to  me  in  reply  to  a  letter  of  mine,  of  the  20th  of  January,  saying* 

that    IF    YOUR    NAME    HAD    BEEN    SENT    UP    [by   Dr.     FALDING,  who 

who  says  he  sent  it]  it  would  have  been  inserted. 

"  I  feel  very  much  disgraced  and  humbled  to  think  that  such  a 
cruel  and  nasty  job  can  be  done  by  the  angels  of  our  churches.     I 

have  a  letter  from  P who  says  it  looks  very  queer,   *     *    says 

the  business  ought  not  to  have  been  done. 

"  I  have  spoken  to  many  about  the  matter,  and  they  one  and  all 
complain  of  the  transaction. 

"  I  Shall  BE  GLAD  TO  CONTRIBUTE  TO  THE  FUND  FOR  BRINGING 
THE    WHOLE    MATTER   BEFORE    THE    PUBLIC. 

"  Yours  truly " 

•  18,  South-street,  Finsburv,  January  20th,  1869. 

To ,  Esq. 

Dear  Sir, — Your  note  has  been  forwarded  to  Bournemouth,  where  I  am  re- 
maining on  account  of  my  health.  In  answer  to  your  enquiry,  I  beg  to  say  that 
Mr.  Ashton,  the  editor  of  the  Year  Book,  inserts  in  the  lists  the  names  only  of 

t'WSe  MINISTERS  WHO  ABE   RETURNED  BY  THE    SECRETARIES  of  COUnty  and   other 

associations  as  recognised  ministers  within  their  bounds.  If  Mr.  Grant's 
n\me  had  been  returned  from  Yorkshire,  it  would  have  been  inserted  in 
the  county  and  alphabetical  list. — I  remain,  dear  Sir,  yours  faithfully, 

G.  SMITH. 

N.B. — Dr.  Smith  neither  saves  himself,  nor  Mr.  Ashton,  nor  the  committee 
by  this  implied  contradiction  of  Dr.  Falding's  professions,  which  a  district 
meeting  lately  accepted  as  his  exoneration,  thongh  that  meeting  was  too  slavish 
or  tyrannical  to  protest  against  the  illegality  and  cruelty  of  the  act  which  they 
were  ashamed  of  being  directly  implicated  in.  "Whether  the  name  was  sent  up 
or  not,  the  erasion  of  it  was  a  crime  and  a  sin,  by  the  laws  of  the  land,  the 
laws  of  the  Union,  and  the  laws  of  God. 

My  correspondent  assumes  that  Mr.  Ashton  had  received  my  name,  and  even 
then  suppressed  it,  contrary  to  tbe  new  rule  alleged  for  "  the  previous  course ;"  Dr. 
Smith  assumes  that  it  was  not  received  "from  Yorkshire,"  that  is  from  Dr. 
Falding  ;  let  them  wriggle  together. 

"  Tbese  haunted  men  will  never  lay 
The  gbosts"  of  "  Eivers,  Vaughan  and  Gray." 
Grant  and  Shakespere,  Richard  in,  Act  i,  Scene  iii;  Act  v.  Scene  iii, 


285 

This  is  from  a  friend  who  is  a  hot  Gladstonian,  but  a  real  liberal, 
and  I  believe  that  Providence  sent  this  letter  while  I  was  writing 
this  appeal,  to  give  me  a  pledge  and  earnest,  that  '  nothing  shall 
harro.  you  if  ye  be  followers  of  that  which  is  good. ' 

In  this  case  sympathy  means  a  subscription,  which  I  believe  will 
come  from  the  poor  and  the  rich,  from  a  few  stamps  to  a  few 
pounds,  to  aid  me  both  in  advertising  my  book  and  the  case,  and 
writing  other  things,  and  in  sustaining  me  while  thus  engaged,  and  in 
enabling  me  to  draw  up  a  case  for  legal  opinion,  providing  fees  for 
counsel,  and  piromises  towards  a  prosecution  fund,  to  be  paid  to  an 
appointed  receiver,  in  case  counsel's  opinion  justifies  legal  action. 

With  thanks  to  the  many  friends  who  have  subscribed  for 
nearly  a  thousand  copies  of  this  Autobiography,  and  devout  over- 
swelling  gratitude  to  that  providence  which  has  carried  me  no  less 
through  this  writing  than  through  the  scenes  which  it  describes,  I 
commend  this  book  and  the  reader  to  the  blessing  of  Almighty  God. 

The  course  of  my  past  life  is  traced  in  this  Autobiography  ;  as  to 
the  future  and  what  '•  inward  ripeness"  may  be  attained,  is,  I  hope, 
described  by  the  immortal  bard,  who  paid  the  penalty  for  "Liberty's 
defence  ;  his  "  noble  task,  with  which  all  Europe  rung  from  side  to 
side  : — 

"Yet  be  it  less  or  more,  or  soon  or  slow, 
"  It  shall  be  still  in  strictest  measure  even 

"  To  that  same  lot,  however  mean  or  high, 
"  Towards  which  time  leads  me,  and  the  will  of  heaven  ; 
"  All  is,  if  I  have  grace  to  use  it  so, 

"  As  ever  in  my  great  Task-master's  eye." 

In  relation  to  the  dangers  which  threaten  our  country  from 
our  unhappy  divisions  fomented  by  our  enemies, — the  friends  of 
superstition,  I  beseech  the  reader  to  join  me  heartily  in  the  follow- 
ing supplication : — 

0  Thou,  Who  art  the  Father  of  Lights,  Who  hast  condescended 
to  shine  into  this  world,  not  only  to  remove  the  natural  chaos,  but 
that  moral  darkness  which  overspread  the  earth,  mercifully  grant 
that  the  priests  of  superstition — the  blind  leaders  of  the  blind — who 
obstruct  the  rays  of  Thy  truth,  and  cover  the  eyes  of  men  with  a 
cloud  of  ignorance,  may  themselves  be  illuminated  with  the  light 
of  Thy  glorious  gospel ;  and  that  those,  hitherto  led  in  darkness, 


286 

through  the  ignorance  that  is  in  them,  may  be  translated  out  of 
the  darkness  of  papal  error  into  the  kingdom  of  Thy  dear  Son  !■ 

May  this  dear  land  of  freedom,  bathed  in  marvellous  light,  not 
again  be  overshadowed  with  that  train  of  errors  which  once  darkened 
the  firmament  and  hid  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  in  a  total  eclipse  of 
heathenish  night :  let  not  the  locusts,  coming  into  this  our  Eden 
and  second  paradise  of  gospel  delights — in  which  is  every  tree  good 
for  food  and  pleasant  to  the  eye — settle  clown  and  march  on,  having 
before  them  the  garden  of  the  Lord,  behind  them  a  desert ;  but 
may  a  mighty  wind,  as  of  Thine  all-reviving  and  sustaining  Spirit, 
sweep  back  this  devouring  army  of  Egyptian  locusts ;  and,  filling 
Thy  people  with  joy  for  Thy  interposing  Providence,  inspire  them 
with  that  gratitude  and  watchfulness  by  which  they  shall  not  only 
dress  and  keep  this  land,  uprooting  every  weed,  but  send  forth 
the  seed  of  Thy  truth  to  be  sown  in  every  barren  place,  so  that 
when  He  shall  come  Who  will  gather  the  wheat  into  His  garner, 
when  the  angels  shall  put  in  the  sickle,  and  the  harvest  of  the 
world  will  be  ripe,  a  large  ingathering  may  be  made  "into  the 
everlasting  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ 


Broo:mhall  Park,  Sheffield, 
March  1,  1869. 


286a 

The  Examination  of  the  Rev.  De.  Hallat,  which  formed  part  of  The 
Tmal  contained  in  the  subsequent  pages,  was  accidentally  omitted  from  its 
place,  and  is  presented  here  in  a  condensed  form,  by  the  opportunity  of  two 
blank  pages,  in  making  up  this  edition. 

The  English  Independent  having  intimated  that  my  name,  which 
in  May,  1869,  was  publicly  declared  restored,  ought  again  to  be 
erased  from  the  list  of  congregational  ministers  ;  and  the  clerk  to  the 
secretaries  of  the  Union,  having  shown  how  this  threat  of  our  "  repre- 
sentative journal"  might  be  carried  out,  while  no  further  information 
was  vouchsafed  by  the  secretaries  themselves,  I  found  it  necessary 
for  my  own  vindication,  and  for  the  fuller  information  of  the  public, 
which  is  studying  the  experiment  of  The  Free  Churches,  to  put  the 
leading  perpetrators,  and  accessories  before  and  after  the  fact,  into 
the  witness  box,  and  from  their  own  mouths,  by  their  own  proved  and 
recorded  woeds,  to  leave  them  all  without  excuse.  Their  reiterated, 
astute,  and  helpless  attempts  to  cover  the  dishonour  of  their  course, 
form  the  most  effective  confession  and  reward  of  their  deed. 

The  Eev.  Dr.  Halley  having  appeared  in  London,  May  11, 1869, 
to  prevent  the  Assembly  agreeing  to  that  "  apology,"  which  he 
acknowledged  had  been  agreed  to,  by  "the  Preliminary  Meeting"  that 
sat  on  the  subject,  appears  now,  to  be  cross-examined  as  follows  : — 
The   Preliminary   Meeting  of  the  Congregational  Union  having 
agreed  upon  a  recommendation  to  the  Assembly,  you  considering  it 
as  an  apology,  justified  the  course  thus  apologised  for,  by  asking  : — 
"  Does  anybody  suppose  your  secretaries  for  any  political  purpose  or 
any  unworthy  motive  whatsoever  displace  anybody  from  the  list  ? — 
(no,  no) — and  I  am  sure  if  you  approve  the  resolution  passed  last 
night  you  do  pass  that  censure — (no,  no) — upon  your  secretaries. 
(Confusion,  "vote,  vote.")     Let  me  be  heard!     (Cheers.)     It  has 
been  said  that   a  gentleman  has   qualified  himself  within  the  last 
fortnight  by  becoming  a  member  of  the  Union,  then  he  was  not 
qualified  before — (hear,  hear) — and  the  secretaries  did  right  in  leaving 
out  his  name  from  the  list.      (Applause.)     If  he  be  now  a  member 
ey  will  do  wrong  in  leaving  out  his  name  from  the  nesct  list ;  but 
lid  right  in  leaving  out  his  name  from  this  list.     (Cheers.)    And 
they  have  done  right  in  this  business,  why  should  you  now  wish 
make  a  special  reference  to  any  name  whatsoever  of  any  one  man, 
he  who  he  may,    who  was  not  a  member  of  this  Union  last 
iristmas,   and  who  has  become  a  member  since  ?     (Hear,  hear.) 
ras  sorry  to  hear  it  was  to  prevent  a  pamphlet  from  being  dis- 
puted.    (Laughter,  "No.")     It  was  said  so  here.     ("No,  no," 
*  \~ote,  vote,"  cheers.)     Let  Mr.  Grant  distribute  his  pamphlet — 


(hear,  hear,  and  cheers) — to  the  ends  of  the  earth  for  aright  I  care. 
(Laughter.)  I  for  one  will  vote  against  this  resolution.  (Loud  cheers.) 
— (English  Independent,  May  14,  1869.)-  You  say,  that  being 
but  "lately  qualified  by  becoming  a  member  of  the  union,"  "  the 
secretaries  did  quite  right  in  leaving  his  name  from  the  list?"    Yes. 

What  "  List"  no  you  mean  ?  I  mean  the  Alphabetical  List  of 
Ministers  of  the  denomination. 

Then  did  you  really  think  that  only  members  of  the  Congregational 
Union,  are  on  the  list  of  ministers  of  the  Denomination  ?  Yes  ;  I 
said,  he  had  "qualified  within  the  last  fortnight  by  becoming  a 
member  of  the  Union." 

Do  you  know  this  book  '?     It  is  "  the  Year  Book  for  1869." 

How  many  ministers  are  in  your  list  of  members  of  the  Congre- 
gational Union  ?     I  do  not  know. 

Well,  look  at  page  81.     How  many  ?     I  cannot  count  them. 

Well  there  are  557.  How  many  ministers'  names  appear  in  your 
"  Alphabetical  List  of  Ministers  ?"     I  do  not  know. 

Well  look  at  page  400.     How  many  ?     2,898. 

Then  you  have  557  ministers  who  are  "  members  of  the  Union," 
and  nearly  three  thousand  on  the  "  Alphabetical  List  of 
Ministers  ?"     So  it  seems. 

There  are  also  190  ministers,  ex  officio  "  members  of  the  Union," 
by  being  pastors  of  churches,  who  subscribe  to  it ;  making  747 
members  of  the  Union;  and  nearly  three  thousand  on  the  list  of 
Ministers  of  the  Denomination  ?     Yes. 

Yet  you  asked — how  could  he  be  on  this  list  of  Ministers,  till  he 
had  "  qualified  "  for  the  other  list  of  "  members  '?"     Yes. 

And  you  could  see  at  a  glance  in  that "  Year  Book,"  two  thousand 
one  hundred  and  fifty-one  names  on  the  List  of  Ministers,  that 
are  not  in  the  List  of  Members  '?     I  did  not  know. 

But  you  know  now  ?     Yes. 

You  said  that  "  it  would  be  wrong,"  if,  now  that  Mr.  Grant  "  is 
a  member  "  of  the  Union,  his  name  should  be  left  out  of  "  the  next 
list  "  of  Ministers  for  1870  ?     Yes. 

Do  you  know  that  this  is  contemplated  :  and  shall  you  protest 
against  this  premeditated  "  wrong  ?"     I  was  not  aware  of  it. 

Well,  this  probable  and  threatened  violation  of  a  promise,  and  of 
what  you  call  a  rule,  is  the  only  occasion  of  this  Trial,  which  must 
be  trying  to  you. 

Dr.  Halley  stepped  down  from  the  witness  box,  not  being  "  quallified"  till  "lately" 
and  so  "  was  not  qualified  before"  to  speak  on  Congregational  Polity. 

*  From  the  "  Dissenting  World."    An  Autobiography. 


THE      TRIAL 

OF  THE 

CONGREGATIONAL  UNIONISTS 

BEFORE  THE  COMMISSION  OF  INQUIRY  INTO 

SPIRITUAL  TRADES-UNION  OUTRAGES; 

WITH    A   FULL  REPORT 

OF    THE 

EXAMINATION    OF    THE    WITNESSES  — 

DR.  GEORGE  SMITH,  DR.  FALDING, 

DR.  A.  RALEIGH,  DR.  HALLEY, 

KEY.  A.  HANNAY,  BEY.  J.  H.  MORGAN, 

REY.  T.  BINNEY,  EEY.  NEWMAN  HALL. 

By  the  Author  of 

THE   SHEFFIELD   TBADES-OUTBAGE   COMMISSION 

AND    ITS    LESSONS; 
being  THE  APPENDIX  to  the  THIRD  EDITION  of 

THE    DISSENTING    WORLD: 
AN   AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 


PUBLISHED  SEPARATELY,  FOR  THE  CONVENIENCE  OF  PURCHASERS  OF  THE  FIRST  AND 
SECOND   EDITIONS,  AND  OTHERS. 


Sheffield  :   PAWSON  and  BRAILSFORD,    High-street. 
London:  WILLIAM  MACINTOSH,  Paternoster-row. 

1869. 


PREFACE 


Pudet  et  hrec  opprobria  nobis 

Et  dici  potuisse,  et  non  potuisse  refeili.* 

— Ovidii  Metamor.  I.  758-7. 

"SPECIAL    NOTICE." 

To  the  Readers  of  the  following  Trial  of  the  Coxgeegatioxal 

Unionists. 

"  The  Coming  Struggle,  or  the  Liberationists  and  the  Inquisition: 
shewing  the  Danger  to  Truth  and  Liberty  in  the  Unestablished 
Churches ;"  was  the  suggestive  title  of  a  pamphlet  lately  issued  in 
connection  with  this  illustrative  case.  In  that  pamphlet  it  was 
observed  that  "  The  people  of  England  are  looking  on  at  this  ex- 
periment of  Esse  Chuechism.  They  want  to  know  what  is  to  be 
substituted  for  the  Establishment  which  is  to  be  attacked ;  and 
whether  disestablishment  means  the  establishment  of  a  spiritual 
tyranny  and  serfdom  that  is  consistently  allied  with  altar  denuncia- 
tors, to  aid  in  '  liberating'  us  from  all  forms  of  law,  order,  trial,  or 
redress,  and  establish  a  Dissenting  Inquisition  more  odious, 
because  more  hypocritical,  than  the  honest  out- spoken  domination 
of  the  Church  of  Rome  ?" 

A  specimen  of  this  tyranny  is  afforded  in  the  case  of  the  freest 
of  the  Free  Churches,  the  Congregationalists,  which  are  subject  to 
the  centralized  despotism  of  the  managers  of  the  Congregational 
Union,  comprising  only  a  small  fraction  of  the  denomination. 
So  absolute  is  this  usurped  authority  that  any  one  out  of  a  list  of 
some  three  thousand  ministers  may  at  any  time  be  deposed  and 
unfrocked  if  he  is  not  politically  subservient  to  the  Libeeatiox 
Society,  whose  secretary,  Mr.  Caevell  Williams,  was  on  the 
Congregational  Union  Committee,  that  invented  a  new  rule  to 
ostracise  a  minister  who  did  not  fall  in  with  Mr.  Gladstoxe's 
Cullenite  policy.  < 

*  The  grief  is,  both  that  such  reproaches  can  be  uttered,  and  that  they  cannot 

be  refuted. 


290  PREFACE. 

As  was  said  in  a  meeting  of  the  Irish  National  Association — it 
would  be  more  true  to  say  there  was  a  confederation  between  the 
Romanists  and  the  English  Liberationists  than  between  the 
Romanists  and  the  Ritualists,  on  the  Irish  Church  question. 

The  secretary  of  the  Liberation  Society  works  with  Cullen  and 
through  the  Congregational  Union,  or  at  least  never  protests  against 
the  act  of  the  committee  on  which  he  sits,  and  by  which,  without 
notice  or  inquiry,  an  opponent  of  Gladstone's  Cullenite  policy  is 
excommunicated  from  the  Congregational  ministry.  This  is  accom 
plished  by  the  surreptitious  application  of  a  surreptitious  rule  to 
strike  his  name  off  the  rolls  in  the  Congregational  Year  Book. 

The  pretexts  and  equivocations  on  which  this  measure  was  adopted, 
and  by  which  the  Romish  power  of  Auto  de  Fe  was  consistently  de- 
fended by  a  Jesuitical  change  in  the  meaning  of  words,  is  abundantly 
manifest  in  the  following  Trial. 

It  should  also  here  be  noted,  that  in  the  Assembly — which  in 
haste,  and  through  misleading,  passed  this  rule  of  despotism — it 
v/as  declared  that  the  name  of  the  one  who  had  been  victimised  by 
the  rule  before  it  passed  would  be  restored  next  year. 

But  even  this  has  since  been  protested  against  by  the  English 
Independent,  and,  while  this  promised  restoration  is  pretended  to  be 
founded  on  a  certain  constitutional  rule,  the  victim  has  been  officially 
informed  that  it  may  be  "vetoed  by  the  Assembly'  at  Wolver- 
hampton, October,  1869, — so  that  neither  rule  nor  declaration  is 
any  obligation. 

For  without  a  rule  he  was  excommunicated,  and  with  an  alleged 
rule,  ignorantly  applied,  he  may  not  be  restored.  This  is  Free 
Churchism  in  its  "  Independent"  development. 

"Sheffield,  Aug.  19,1869. 

"Dear  Sir, — As  Mr.  Hannay  affirmed  in  the  Union  meeting  that 
my  name  would  be  inserted  in  the  next  Year  Book,  I  wish  to  know 
whether  this  was  merely  his  personal  statement,  or  whether  he 
had  the  authority  of  the  committee,  or  any  on  whom  I  can  rely  that 
this  will  be  the  case  ;  as  the  knowledge  of  this,  one  way  or  other,  will 
affect  my  action  at  the  Wolverhampton  (fathering. 

"  Yours  truly, 

"BREWIN  GRANT." 

"  The  Rev.  Dr.  George  Smith." 

"August  23,  1869. 

"Dear  Sir, — As  Dr.  Smith  is  from  home,  I  have  pleasure  in 
replying  to  the  inquiry  contained  in  your  note  addressed  to  him  as 
secretary  of  the  Congregational  Union. 


PREFACE. 


291 


"  Mr.  Hannay's  affirmation  in  May  last,  relative  to  the  insertion 
of  your  name  in  the  next  Year  Book,  was  in  accordance  with  the 
rule. 

"As  a  minister,  in  fellowship  with  a  church  connected  with  the 
Union,  you  became  a  member  [of  the  Congregational  Union]  on  pay- 
ment of  the  usual  subscription,  and  your  name  will,  therefore, 
appear  in  the  Alphabetical  List  of  Ministebs,*  unless  its  inser- 
tion should  be  vetoed  by  the  Assembly  of  the  Union. 
"  I  am,  dear  Sir, 

"  Yours  truly, 

"  THOMAS  H.  COLLINS." 

"  Kev.  B.  Grant,  B.A." 

"  Sheffield,  August  24th,  1869. 

"  Dear  Sir, — '  The  rule,'  '  in  accordance  with  '  which  you  say 
*  Mr.  Hannay's  affirmation  '  was  made,  has  nothing  to  do  with  the 
subject  of  my  inquiry.  It  relates  to  personal  membership  of  the 
Congregational  Union,  not  to  the  list  of  Congregational  Ministers. 
It  is  a  special  provision  for  those  who  are  ministers,  and  who, 
therefore,  before  joining  the  Union — which  is  a  private  voluntary 
association — are  already  enrolled,  or  entitled  independently  of  this 
'  rule  '  to  be  enrolled  in  the  '  Alphabetical  List  of  Congregational 
Ministers.' 

"To  say  that  a  minister  by  paying  five  shillings  to  the  Union 
may  be  a  minister,  is  to  be  reduced  to  an  absurdity. 

"  Members  of  the  Union  are  one  thing,  ministers  of  the  denomi- 
nation are  another.  It  is,  however,  necessary  for  the  officials  of 
the  Union  to  confound  a  plain  distinction.  But  if  the  rule  did 
apply  to  being  on  the  '  List  of  Ministers '  instead  of  to  '  personal 
membership  of  the  Union,'  to  which  alone  it  refers,  as  you  can 
see  by  looking  at  it, — still,  if  it  meant  what  it  never  mentions  and 
cannot  mean,  but  contradicts  by  clear  implication,  it  seems  that  it 
may  be  '  vetoed  by  the  Assembly  '  in  October,  without  any  intima- 
tion to  the  victim,  although  it  is  a  part  of  '  the  constitution '  of  the 
Union. 

"  A  *  rule '  therefore  means  something  that  we  are  not  to  go  by. 

"  I  do  not  ask  for  Mr.  Hannay's  personal  misapplication  of  rules, 
l)ut  for  the  Committee's  official  authority — on  which  I  may  rely— - 
that  what  he  said  would  be  done — will  be  done. 

"  The  members  of  the  committee  will  be  wise  not  to  stultify 
themselves  by  advancing  an  irrelevant  rule  as  an  excuse  for  fulfilling 

*  Which  is  distinct  from  and  independent  of  the  List  of  Members  of  the  Union. 


292 


PREEACE. 


a  public  unchallenged  pledge  which  they  permitted  to  he  given,  and 
which,  if  not  intended  by  them,  should  not  have  been  permitted  to 
be  openly  made  in  their  presence  by  their  representative  speaker. 

"  But,  as  you  surmise  that  this  restoration  may  be  'vetoed  by 
the  Assembly,'  will  it  be  open  to  debate  ?  Will  the  committee 
send  me  the  articles  of  impeachment,  giving  a  list  of  any  rules 

THAT  I  HAVE  VIOLATED  and  THE  THEN  EXISTING  RULES  ON  WHICH 
THEY    ACTED  ? 

"  The  confused  and  hasty  post  mortem  legislation  in  May  was 
only  a  confession  of  the  illegality  of  their  proceedings. 

"Nothing  but  a  fair,  frank,  authorized  statement  can  restore  the 
credit  of  the  Union,  and  this  statement  neither  the  committee  nor 
the  Assembly  has  given,  or  dare  give. 

"I  ask  now,  however,  for  a  plain  statement  whether  my  name  will 
be  restored,  as  publicly  affirmed  in  the  Assembly  last  May  ? 

This  information  is  the  more  necessary  after  your  intimation  that 
even  the  pretended  rule  on  the  subject  may  be  violated  by  those 
who  are  weak  enough  or  reduced  enough  to  plead  it — in  order  to 
break  it. 

"As  I  said  before,  my  proceedings  at  the  "Wolverhampton 
gathering  will  be  affected  by  the  way  in  which  the  committee  deals 
with  this  inquiry.  "  Yours  very  truly, 

"  BREWIN  GRANT." 

"  T.  H.  Collins,  Esq." 

"  Please  to  show  this  letter  to  the  secretary,  Dr.  Smith,  as  I  wish 
for  an  official  reply." 

No  answer  was  vouchsafed  to  this  inquiry.  Indeed  it  is  im- 
possible to  put  into  words  an  excuse  for  the  pretence  that  because 
a  Congregational  minister  joins  a  voluntary  association — the  Congre- 
gational Union — to  attend  its  meetings,  he  is  therefore  put  on  the 
list — not  of  members  of  that  Union,  which  was  the  only  common- 
sense  result,  but  on  the  list  of  Congregational  ministers,  which  is 
a  separate  thing,  and  to  which  place  he  had  a  right  before,  and  must 
have,  according  to  the  rule  referred  to,  in  order  to  qualify  for 
"  personal  membership  "  in  the  Union.  Yet  it  is  pretended  that 
the  personal  membership  of  the  Union  qualifies  a  minister  for  the 
ministry,  which  again  reciprocally  qualifies  him  for  securing  "per- 
sonal membership  !"  Thus  tyranny  is  reduced  to  imbecility  when 
it  tries  to  excuse  itself. 

It  was  the  astuteness  of  Mr.  Hannay,  the  committee's  mouth- 
piece in  the  Assembly,  that  imposed  on  the  simplicity  of  Mr. 
Collins,  the  worthy  clerk  to  the  secretaries. 


\ 


PREFACE.  293 

Any  one  reading  his  letter  would  expect  this  conclusion,  that 
because  "  as  a  minister"  I  had  joined  the  Congregational  Union 
my  name  would  therefore  appear  "in  the  list"  of  the  members  of 
that  Union.  But  guided  by  official  and  authorised  hallucination, 
the  writer's  pen  turns  off  [from  the  only  legitimate  conclusion,  and 
substitutes  the  "Alphabetical  List  of  Congregational  Ministers,"  on 
which  I  had  stood  for  a  quarter  of  a  century. 

It  is  like  saying  to  a  town  councillor,  that  "as  a  burgess,  having 
obtained  a  membership  of  the  town  council  by  the  votes  of  your 
fellow  burgesses,  your  name  will  therefore  appear  on  the  alpha- 
betical list  of  burgesses,"  according  to  the  rule  which  permits  a 
burgess  to  be  a  town  councillor  and  so  qualifies  him  to  be  a  burgess. 

I  put  it  in  this  way  to  make  it  plain  even  to  the  committee  of 
the  Congregational  Union,  that  if  possible  they  may  understand  to 
what  deplorable  shifts  they  are  reduced.  Their  reasons  are  their 
ruin — whether  we  look  at  their  reasons  for  taking  the  name  off, 
or  for  promising  to  put  it  on  again,  or  for  not  fulfilling  that  promise. 
The  only  fear  I  have  is  lest  their  incredible  absurdity,  as  they 
struggle  helplessly  in  the  net  which  they  wove  for  me,  will  throw 
discredit  on  this  history,  and  make  some  imagine  that  this  helpless 
floundering  of  a  committee,  backed  by  the  ablest  intellects  of  our 
men  of  progress,  must  be  what  the  genius  of  the  English  Inde- 
pendent calls  "flim-flam." 

It  is  by  these  arts  that  Independency  is  conquered.  There  may 
be  some  satisfaction  in  falling  before  brave  and  able  men : — Ne 
virtute  quidem,  premi  libertatem,  sed  arte  eludi  ::;: — Not  by 
open  bravery  was  our  freedom  vanquished,  but  spirited  away  by 
trickery.  As  the  same  master  of  language  observes  of  one  : — 
Excepit  deinde  euru  lentius  spe  bellum,  quo  nequidquam  vi 
adortus,  postremo  minime  arte  Romana,  frauds  ac  dolo,  adgressus 
est.f  Afterwards  another  war  engaged  him,  which  dragged  on 
longer  than  he  expected,  in  which,  having  vainly  tried  fair  strength 
of  war,  at  last  by  treachery,  very  little  after  the  high  Roman  fashion, 
by  fraud  and  guile,  he  gained  his  end. 

We  must  distinguish  between  Roman  and  Romish  art,  and 
remember  that  the  latter  is  adopted  to  advance  Romish  equality 
by  consistently  imitating  it.  Both  to  Independent  Ministers  and 
others  the  writer's  case  is  a  warning  and  example  of  the  "  equality" 
which  they  may  experience — he  can  suffer  no  more  than  is  already 
inflicted.      Ceteri  sibi  ac  liberis    suis  consulerent  J — Let    the 

*  Livii,  lib.  III.,  cap.  x.     f  Livii,  lib.  I,  cap.  liii.     +  Liviii,  lib.  III. 


294  PREFACE. 

rest  consider  for  themselves  and  their  families.  Aliena  oalamitate 
documentum  datum  Mis  carenda  similis  injuria — By  the  misfor- 
tunes of  another,  there  is  given  to  them  a  specimen  of  the  kind  of 
injury  against  which  they  have  to  guard  themselves.  Si  animus  sit, 
non  defore  auxilium* — If  they  are  not  wanting  in  faithfulness,  they 
will  not  want  for  help.  Quum  priorum  audacia  dubiis  etiam  animum 
faceret— The  boldness  of  a  few  would  give  courage  to  the  rest. 

This  power  of  ministerial  life  and  death  was  well  described  by 
the  Rev.  S.  M'Call  in  the  following  observations  to  the  Assembly  of 
the  Congregational  Union,  May,  1869  : — 

"  It  was  foreseen  from  the  very  beginning  that  the  Year  Book 
would  come  to  be  a  serious  and  perhaps  formidable  power.  That 
was  foreseen.  The  thing  was  inevitable.  The  appearance  of  a 
name  in  that  book  was  a  kind  of  authentication ;  the  omission  of  the 
name  seemed  to  be  an  emphatic  disownment  of  the  person.  And  the 
omission  was  more  serious  than  the  insertion,  for,  whereas  the 
insertion  would  seem  to  imply  that  there  was  nothing  to  be  said 
material  against  the  person,  the  omission  would  seem  to  imply  that 
there  teas  nothing  to  be  said  for  him,  and,  therefore,  that  the  Year 
Book  would  be  a  very  serious  power  in  our  hands  was  anticipated 
as  a  matter  of  course,  and  that  there  would  arise  some  difficulties 
in  managing  this  power  might  be  anticipated  by  every  thoughtful 
person.  I  am  glad  they  have  not  arisen  earlier,  for  then  it  might 
have  damaged  our  condition  as  a  Union ;  and  I  am  glad  that  they 
have  not  been  deferred  longer,  for  then  possibly  the  mischief  might 
have  become  unmanageable.  It  lies  at  present  within  comparatively 
narrow  bounds,  and  I  sincerely  hope,  with  my  honourable  friend 
Mr.  Hannay,  that  this  morning  will  see  the  end  of  it  for  ever."\ 

Instead  of  ending  that  difficulty  that  morning,  the  power  of 
arbitrarily  and  secretly  excommunicating  ministers  was  then  for  the 
first  time  publicly  confirmed,  so  that  "  the  mischief"  has  become 
"  unmanageable." 

*  Livii,  lib.  III.,  cap.  x.     f  "  English  Independent,"  May  14,  1869. 


KEPOKT    OF    THE    TKIAL 

OF   THE 

CONGREGATIONAL   UNIONISTS 

BEFORE   THE    COMMISSION    OF   INQUIET   INTO 

SPIRITUAL    TRADES-UNION    OUTRAGES. 


The  Constitution  of  the  Court,  the  occasion  and  object  of 
its  appointment,  may  be  understood  from  the  opening  remarks  of 
the  President,  who  observed,  for  the  information  of  the  public, — 
that  of  late  it  had  been  found  necessary,  in  order  to  discover  certain 
crimes  and  protect  future  possible  victims,  by  deterring  the  perpe- 
trators, to  arm  Commissioners  with  a  power  of  enquiry  beyond  the 
ordinary  jurisdiction  of  legal  courts.  Yet,  at  the  same  time,  in 
order  to  protect  the  accused,  while  consulting  the  interests  of  the 
public,  it  was  seen  to  be  necessary  that  extra-judicial  methods  of 
securing  evidence  should  not  tell  penally  against  those  who  were 
convicted  by  it ;  that  is,  providing  they  themselves  honestly  aided 
the  cour*.  in  obtaining  information  by  making,  as  Mr.  Overend 
observed  a.  *he  Trades-Union  Outrage  Commission  in  Sheffield — 
"  a  clean  bi'btist  of  it."  If  the  court  were  satisfied  that  the  persons 
examined  gave  all  the  information  in  their  power,  even  though 
thereby  criminating  themselves,  they  were  to  receive  a  form  of  indem- 
nification ;  but  if  it  were  believed  by  the  Commission  that  any 
witness  concealed  information,  such  witness  was  liable  to  be  tried  in 
the  ordinary  courts  and  punished,  if  found  guilty.  The  Court  of 
Inquiry  had  also  power  to  enforce  answers,  and  to  commit  for 
contempt. 

It  was  under  the  provision  of  indemnity  that  evidence  as  to  the 
agency  in  suspected  Trades -Union  Outrages  was  obtained  ;  and 
even  though,  in  the  case  of  the  murder  of  the  man  Linley,  and 
the  "  blowing  up  "  of  the  house  of  the  man  Fearnehough — to  the 
extreme  danger  of  the  lives  of  himself  and  family,  who  were  in  bed 


296 

at  the  time  of  the  explosion — the  confederates  in  those  deeds  were 
pardoned,  according  to  the  conditions  laid  down,  of  a  full  confes- 
sion ;  still,  the  liability  to  such  investigation  and  exposure  would 
tend  to  prevent  similar  acts,  while  the  information  thus  acquired 
would  aid  the  legislature  in  deciding  how  far  new  laws  regarding 
Trades  Unions  were  required,  and  what  those  laws  should  be. 

The  same  principle  has  been  applied  to  questions  of  bribery  in 
elections,  in  the  case  of  Norwich,  Beverley,  and  Bridgewater,  by 
which  evidence  was  obtained  that  had  eluded  the  search  of  the 
judges  lately  appointed  to  decide  on  election  petitions. 

This  Court  or  Commission  of  Inquiry  into  Spiritual  Trades- 
Union  Outrages  is  of  the  same  kind,  and  founded  on  the  same 
principle.  It  is  the  boast  of  our  present  legislation  that  all  parties 
shall  be  treated  on  the  principle  of  equality  ;  and  it  would  be 
manifestly  unequal  to  inquire  severely  into  the  conduct  of  the  Unions 
of  the  working  classes,  as  in  Sheffield,  and  not  to  inquire  into  the  con- 
duct of  that  Spiritual  Trades-Union  whose  president,  the  Eev. 
Newman  Hall,  in  its  name,  lectured  the  working  classes  of  Shef- 
field on  tyranny  over  one  another,  which  that  same  Ministerial 
Uniou  was  then  accused  of  perpetrating  on  its  own  account,  while 
it  was  also   endeavouring  to  screen  and  justify  the  perpetrators. 

This  was  well  brought  out  in  "  The  Particular  Case  for  Congrega- 
tional Unionists,"  the  author  of  which  now,  in  turn,  and  to  a  great 
extent,  as  he  believes,  for  that  exposure  of  an  outrage,  is  himself 
the  subject  of  one  ;  not  only  to  silence  him,  but  to  terrify  others 
from  public  criticism,  and  render  the  repetition  of  Spiritual  Trades- 
Union  outrages  as  secure  to  the  perpetrators  as  they  are  fatal  to 
the  victims. 

It  is  not  for  the  Court  to  pronounce  an  opinion  on  the  case  before- 
hand— in  fact,  we  cannot  entertain  an  opinion  till  we  have  pursued 
the  investigation :  but  justice  requires  this  distinction,  that  while 
the  sacred  character  of  Christian  societies  and  ministers  should  be 
jealously  guarded  and  respected,  the  same  renders  it  more  impera- 
tive to  require  of  them  a  greater  scrupulousness  and  magnanimity 
of  conduct  than  can  reasonably  be  expected  of  untaught  men 
following  the  impulse  of  an  apparent  though  mistaken  self-interest. 

This  distinction  is  the  more  obviously  just,  inasmuch  as  the 
Congregational  Union  took  upon  itself  to  instruct  the  working  men 
of  Sheffield  in  the  duty  of  respecting  ether  people's  rights  while 
defending  their  own. 

The  working  classes  naturally  expect  their,  teachers  to  set  them 
an  example 


297 

But  there  is  a  greater  principle,  or  one  more  important,  than  any 
hitherto  mentioned,  and  which  both  justifies  and  necessitates  the 
inquiry  on  which  we  are  entering,  and  to  this  we  desire  to  call 
special  attention. 

At  present,  the  presumed  tendency  of  legislation  is  to  withdraw 
religion  at  least — though  nothing  else — from  the  patronage,  pro- 
tection, and  subsidising  of  Government,  even  so  far  as  the  with- 
drawal, not  of  public  money  given  from  the  Consolidated  Fund — 
the  common  taxes,  to  which  all  contribute — but  of  corporate 
property,  which  prescriptive  right  would  seem  to  perpetuate. 

Now,  the  professed  object  of  these  changes  is  to  secure  liberty 
and  equality  in  the  free  exercise  of  private  opinion  on  religious 
and  moral  questions,  and  on  political  questions  as  relating  to  them. 

It  is  therefore  necessary  for  the  public  good  that  the  nation 
should  be  informed  how  far  those  so-called  voluntary  societies. — 
which  are  presumed  to  be  the  alternative  of  National  Establishments 
and  to  "  liberate"  men  from  evils  said  to  be  incidental  to  those 
establishments — are  fraught  with  the  evils  for  which  they 
are  the  professed  remedy. 

Whether,  in  fact,  these  societies  as  at  present  existing,  however 
free  in  theory,  do  not  need  the  regulation  of  public  law  to 
defend  the  natural  rights  of  individuals  against  what  is  called  "  an 
organized  tyranny  supported  by  an  organized  hypocrisy." 

There  are  two  objects  professedly  to  be  secured  by  the  so-called 
"  Free  Churches  " — the  purity  of  Christian  truth  and  the  freedom 
of  individual  consciences  ;  and  it  is  alleged  that  there  are  two 
dangers  from  unestablished  Churches ;  besides  that  it  is  said  that 
the  freer  Churches  are  departing  from  the  Christian  truth  referred 
+o — a  point  not  at  present  before  us,  except  so  far  as  they  may 
infringe  the  rights  of  their  members  by  illegally  excommunicating 
them  for  maintaining  the  professed  principles  of  these  societies. 
That  this  has  had  something,  and  not  a  little,  to  do  with  the  outrage 
specially  before  us  has  been  affirmed  by  so  high  a  Broad  Church 
authority  as  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette* 

However,  it  is  enough  to  observe  that  the  two  dangers  from  un- 
established churches  are  first  to  suppress  individual  freedom  by  the 
tyranny  of  majorities,  by  the  usurpation  of  officials,  by  technical 
rules  technically  applied,  or  rules  invented  for  the  occasion  ;  by 
patronage,  and  by  terrorism  of  penalties.     Secondly,  the  danger 

*  In  a  review  at  considerable  length  of  "  The  Dissenting  World  :    an 
Autobiography." 


298 

from  Free  Churches  is  to  the  State,  which  may  be  predominated 
over  by  what  has  been  well  described  as  a  "fraternity  of  Eccle- 
siastics, without  families,  without  the  ties  of  home  or  country,  a 
race  of  spiritual  gypsies  belonging  to  no  nation,  but  domineering 
over  all ;  fomenting  wars,  distributing  crowns,  annulling  the  alle- 
giance of  subjects,  laying  interdicts  on  kingdoms,  not  to  free  the 
nations  but  to  enslave  monarchs  and  consummate  their  conspiracy 
against  mankind."* 

These  also  accumulate  vast  wealth  by  frightening  the  dying; 
and  when  aided  towards  equality  by  other  "Free  Churches,"  imme- 
diately demand  domination  over  schools  and  Government  pay  ;  as 
Paul  Cullen,  for  Ireland,  in  gratitude  for  pacification  by  the  over- 
throw of  the  Protestant  establishment,  to  be  followed  by  the  con- 
fiscation of  property  of  Protestant  landowners. 

This  fraternity  would  dominate  over  the  Government,  and  secures 
its  power  by  domineering  over  private  conscience  even  in  scholastic 
affairs,  publicly  threatening  in  a  pastoral  to  deprive  of  the  sacra- 
ments, and  so  to  consign  to  everlasting  ruin  whoever  shall  send 
their  children  to  Government  schools  not  modelled  into  Romish 
"  establishments." 

This  is  done  at  the  same  time  that  a  Triduwn,  or  three  days' 
thanksgiving  service,  is  instituted  to  bless  God  for  the  liberality  of  a 
liberal  Government,  and  the  special  enlightenment  of  our  Premier, 
Mr.  Gladstone,  in  giving  the  Romish  priests  equality,  as  a  step 
towards  this  domination,  which  is  "  conciliation." 

Nor  are  the  priests  the  only  danger  to  Government,  for  as  they 
dictate  to  electors,  so  "the  Dissenting  screw"  is  worked  against 
any  one  who  does  not  fall  into  rank  on  the  liberal,  side  to  lift  priests 
into  the  position  for  new  demands.  The  kind  of  intimidation  em- 
ployed is  seen  by  the  fact  that  the  leading  organ  of  the  "  Spiritual 
Trades -Union,"  whose  proceedings  in  this  case  we  are  to  inquire 
into,  plainly  intimated  to  its  readers  that  for  taking  an  independent 
view  of  the  election  contest  the  plaintiff  could  no  longer  be 
regarded  as  a  Congregational  Minister  and  "  on  this  hint"  the 
Union  would  appear  to  have  acted. 

The  object  of  this  inquiry  is  to  shew  hoiv  far,  apart  from  the 
preservation  of  doctrine,  such  Free  Churches  can  be  entrusted  with 
the  preservation  of  individual  liberty,  and  whether  some  special 
legislation  may  not  be  required  for  these  "  Spiritual  Trades-Unions," 

•  Orations  to  the-Oratorians,  in  reply  to  Dr.  Newman,  by  the  Kev.  Brewin 
Grant,  &A. 


290 

as  well  as  for  those  Secular  Trades-Unions,  which  the  managers  of 
the  former  are  so  ready  to  advise  and  correct.  "We  have  something 
else  to  do  besides  disestablishing  the  English  Church,  if  we  really 
mean  to  secure  religious  freedom  and  purity  of  doctrine  and  disci- 
pline as  well  as  civil  rights. 

In  the  words  of  a  great  authority  among  the  Free  Churches— - 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Parker,  late  of  Manchester,  the  great  advocate  of 
' '  Aggressive  Nonconformity — "The  honour  and  integrity  of 
British  Congregationalism  are  on  their  trial." 


FIBST   DAYS   PBOCEEDINGS 

OPENING   OF   THE   CASE. 


It  was  arranged  by  the  President  of  the  Court  that  a  general 
statement  of  the  case  on  both  sides  should  be  put  in  as  the  basis 
of  proceedings. 

THE    KEY.  BREWIN   GRANT'S   STATEMENT. 

In  order  to  exhaust  all  moral  means  before  having  recourse  to 
legal  proceedings  to  secure  reparation  for  the  Union  outrage,  which, 
without  notice,  trial,  or  even  accusation  beforehand,  and  without 
explanation  afterwards,  unfrocked,  deposed,  and  excommunicated 
him,  he  determined  on  petitioning  the  general  "  Annual  Assembly," 
May  11th,  against  the  illegal  action  of  its  committee  on  surrep- 
titiously forged  rules.  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  petition  that 
was  sent  to  the  Committee  for  presentation  to  the  Assembly  :■— 

THE  PETITION 

OF 

THE  REV.  BREWIN  GRANT,  B.A., 

to   the  congregational  union,  in   public  annual  meeting 
assembled, 

"  ShEWHTH — 

"  That  the  petitioner's  name  has  been  on  the  list  of  Congrega- 
tional ministers  for  the  space  of  twenty-five  years,  up  to  the  '  Year 
Book  for  1868,'  and  was  omitted  from  the"' Year  Book  for  1869,' 
without  any  intimation  to  the  petitioner  beforehand,  or  any  explana- 
tion afterwards. 


300 

"  That  this  act  of  the  editor  of  the  'Year  Book'  has  been  en- 
dorsed by  the  Committee  of  the  Union,  which  gives  no  reason,  and 
affords  no  redress* 

"  That  such  erasure  was  admitted  by  Dr.  xarker,  m  the  Union 
meeting  in  Sheffield,  in  1866,  to  '  amount  to  ministerial  deposition  ; 
a  species  of  excommunication,'  and  to  be  '  fraught  with  the  gravest 
consequences  to  individual  ministers.' 

"That  the  petitioner  is  suffering  these  'gravest  consequences,' 
contrary,  as  he  believes,  to  the  law  of  the  land,  and  contrary  to  the 
positive  votes  and  directions  of  the  Assembly,  whose  authority  the 
Committee  have  ignored,  contravened,  assumed,  and  surpassed. 

"  That  the  committee  acknowledged  it  had  not  the  authority  to 
make  regulations  for  deposing  ministers,  when  in  reply  to  the  peti- 
tioner's remonstrance  against  the  unconstitutional  erasure  of  the  Rev. 
Isaac  Vaughans  name,  without  notice  or  trial,  the  committee  agreed 
to  introduce  a  motion  on  the  subject  at  the  autumnal  meetings  in 
Sheffield,  in  1866. 

"  That  the  committee,  by  its  own  arrangement,  was  most  respect- 
fully requested  to  consider  the  methods  of  adding  names  to,  and  re- 
moving them  from,  the  list  of  ministers,  and  to  report  on  the  same 
to  the  next  Annual  Assembly. 

"  That  the  committee  did  not  report  to  the  Assembly,  but  legis- 
lated in  its  place,  creating  a  new  rule  six  months  before  the  next 
Annual  Assembly,  and  placed  its  illegal  law  in  the  '  Year  Book  for 
1867,'  to  authorize  that  power  of  expulsion  which  was  in  question, 
which  was  already  protested  against,  and  which  should  at  least  have 
been  debated  and  sanctioned  by  the  Assembly,  and  been  regulated 
within  the  constitutional  power  of  the  Union. 

"  That  in  the  autumn  of  1867,  at  Manchester,  the  petitioner  in- 
quired by  what  authority  the  new  law  of  expulsion  from  the  Inde- 
pendent body  was  inserted  in  the  'Year  Book,'  when  no  report  had 
been  made  to  the  Assembly,  as  ordered  and  promised. 

"  That  in  reply,  the  Secretary  said  the  committee  had  reported  in 
favour  of  the  alteration,  and  that  the  alteration  was  sanctioned  by 
the  annual  meeting. 

"That the  secretary  afterwards  apologised  publicly  to  the  peti- 
tioner, acknowledging  that  no  report  had  been  given,  and  conse- 
sequently  no  sanction  received  for  the  innovation. 

"  That  the  secretary  promised  that  it  should  be  reported  to  the 
next  annual  meeting  for  the  consideration  of  the  members,  as  to 
whether  the  new  rule  should  be  adopted. 

"  That  it  was  not  presented  for  discussion,  but  referred  to  as 


an 


301 

*  effected  alteration,'  which  had  been  forgotten  to  be  reported  ;  the 
authority  to  '  effect '  it  was  assumed  on  the  part  of  the  Committee, 
and  all  the  Assembly  had  to  do  was  not  to  debate  the  new  rule,  but 
to  condone  the  failure  to  report  it  before  by  those  who  had  no 
authority  to  make  it. 

"  That  this  part  of  the  report — 3Ia\\  1868— was  objected  to  by 
the  seconder,  the  new  rule  being  declared  by  the  chairman  to  be  il- 
legally made  ;  and  the  whole  question  was  recommended  to  be  re- 
served for  a  future  meeting. 

"  That  on  this  condition  only,  the  report  in  general  was  accepted, 
and  consequently  the  innovation  was  repudiated  by  the  seconder, 
condemned  by  the  chairman,  Dr.  Raleigh,  and  voted  down  by  the 
Assembly. 

11  That  the  '  Year  Book  for  1869'  if/nores  this  important  circum- 
stance, which  was  fully  recorded  in  the  English  Independent,  and  is 
quoted  at  large  in  'The  Dissenting  World:  an  Autobiography,' 
pages  227-8  :  in  which  book,  also,  every  stage  of  this  business  is 
carefully  recorded. 

"  That  the  secretary  again  publicly  pledged  himself  and  the  com- 
mittee to  bring  the  matter  before  a  subsequent  meeting,  as  directed. 

"  That  he  did  not  do  so ;  but  when  asked  whether  it  was  brought 
up  at  the  next  meeting  in  Leeds,  October,  1868,  replied  that  he 
believed  it  was  settled  in  London,  in  May  ;  as  at  Manchester,  he  and 
the  editor  of  the  '  Year  Book '  averred  that  the  rule  was  proposed 
and  passed  in  London,  1867,  though  it  had  never  been  mentioned. 

"  That  instead  of  bringing  forward  the  question,  according  to  re- 
iterated public  promises,  a  more  stringent  rule  was  made  by  the  same 
illegal  power  of  the  committee  ;  and  this  second  surreptitious  altera- 
tion of  the  laws  of  Independency  is  placed  in  the  '  Year  Book  of 
1869,'  for  which  the  editor  alleges  a  resolution  of  the  committee, 
which  he  knew  had  no  authority  to  make  the  alteration,  but  was 
pledged  to  bring  its  former  illegal  rule  before  the  Assembly  for  con- 
sideration and  decision. 

"  That  under  this  second  surreptitiously-made  rule,  the  petitioner 
was  excommunicated  and  deposed,  the  only  possible  pretence  being 
that  his  name  was  omitted  to  be  returned  by  the  district  secretary, 
Dr.  Falding,  as  that  of  a  minister  resident  in  his  district. 

"  That  the  rule  requiring  such  return  was  illegally  made ;  that 
the  application  of  it  to  previous  ministers  is  unconstitutional  as  a 
retrospective  law  ;  and  that  the  pretence  that  the  petitioner's  name 
was  not  returned — if  such  pretence  should  be  advanced  respecting  a 
name  that  had  been  recognised  for  a  quarter  of  a  century — is  con- 


302 

tradicted  by  a  letter  from  Dr.  Falding  to  the  petitioner,  which  avows 
that  he  did  return  the  name. 

1 *  That,  therefore,  if  the  new  illegal  rule  were  legal,  and  appli- 
cable to  previous  ministers  instead  of  to  new  ones,  it  does  not  apply 
to  the  petitioner.  [It  should  be  explained  here,  that  though  Dr. 
Falding,  to  defend  himself  from  the  odium  of  being  the  private 
illegal  professional  executioner  of  a  brother  minister  without  note  or 
comment,  trial  or  execution,  or  notice,  declared  he  did  "  return"  the 
name,  he  explained  afterwards  that  he  returned  it — as  not  re- 
turnable (!)  This  prevarication  is  sacred  to  Professors  :  not  to  be 
imitated  by  the  profane  vulgar.] 

"  That  the  committee  has  *  assigned  no  reason  and  cannot — it 
avows  no  motive,  and  dare  not ;'  but  evasively  refers  to  a '  previous 
course,'  which  was  not  previously  pursued ;  and  nothing  happened 
between  1868,  when  the  petitioner's  name  was  in  the  '  Year  Book,' 
and  1869,  when  it  was  erased,  except  his  opposition  to  Mr.  Glad- 
stone s  movements  to  transfer  the  endowment  of  Protestantism  in  Ire- 
land to  Roman  Catholic  institutions  and  management. 

"  That  the  petitioner  had  a  right  to  his  opinions,  and  to  the  free 
utterance  of  them,  since  he  did  not,  as  some  do,  undermine  the  Gos- 
pel of  Christ  and  deny  his  Saviour,  but  only  doubted  the  policy  of 
a  variegated  and  '  suspensory '  statesman,  whose  course  has  been 
*  a  perpetual  motion  of  self-contradiction.' 

"  That  whatever  motive  the  committee  had  in  endorsing  the  action 
of  its  editor,  that  action  was  illegal  and  injurious,  and  that  no  technical 
rules  or  excuses  will  cover  the  grave  injustice  which  is  inflicted,  and 
for  which  the  petitioner  believes  the  law  of  the  land  will  afford  repa- 
ration, as  a  condensed  libel ;  a  violation  of  the  implied  contract  in 
the  principles  of  our  denomination  ;  a  deprival  of  professional  stand- 
ing, its  usefulness  and  its  advantages,  in  violation  of  all  rules  of 
honour,  and  justice,  and  open  dealing. 

"  That,  nevertheless,  the  petitioner  prefers,  as  he  has  all  along 
offered,  a  settlement  by  moral  and  Christian  means,  the  last  of 
which  in  his  power  is  an  appeal  direct  to  the  Union  to  carry  out  its 
own  principles,  and  neither  itself  to  be  over-ridden  by  the  usurpa- 
tion of  its  committeee  and  paid  agents,  nor  to  permit  them  to  over- 
ride the  common  claims  of  justice,  to  the  discredit  of  the  Union,  as 
an  organised  and  centralised  despotism  that  can  strangle  in  the  dark 
any  Independent  minister  without  a  word. 

"  That  no  subterfuges  will  escape  the  general  conviction  of  the 
world  outside — that  this  act  is  lending  the  Union  to  the  side  of 
political  and  religious  despotism. 


303 

"That  it  can  be  settled  now  to  the  honour  of  the  denomination, 
by  the  restoration  of  the  name  to  the  list  of  the  Congregational 
ministers,  and  for  this  the  petitioner  appeals  as  the  barest  act  of 
justice. 

"  That  the  refusal  to  entertain  this  petition,  and  deal  frankly 
with  the  merits  of  the  case,  uill  entail  continued  agitation,  the 
result  of  which  may  be  as  disastrous  to  the  denomination  as  the 
conduct  of  the  committee  is  to  the  petitioner,  who  was  brought  up 
an  Independent,  was  over  seven  years  educated  for  the  ministry, 
has  been  engaged  twenty-five  years  in  it,  and  wished  to  continue  ; 
and  who  has  received  recognitions  as  to  character,  ability,  and  use- 
fulness, such  as  few  have  been  honoured  with,  and  who  is  deeply 
convinced  that  the  only  reason  for  his  deposition  is  the  anger  of 
some,  both  for  his  defence  of  orthodoxy  and  liberty  among  our- 
selves, and  his  opposition  to  Roman  encroachments  in  political 
parties. 

"  That  whatever  real  or  affected  contempt  any  may  feel  or  feign, 
the  petitioner  believes  that  calm  consideration  will  lead  the  gene- 
rality to  a  desire  to  do  justice,  which  can  be  prevented  only  by  clamour 
and  misrepresentation,  and  the  averting  of  impartial  enquiry. 

"  That  the  loftiest  throne,  in  heaven  as  on  earth,  may  be 
approached  by  the  lowliest  petitioner,  even  to  sue  for  mercy  and 
favour  on  behalf  of  offences  against  the  law,  while  the  petitioner 
asks  his  brethren  neither  for  mercy  nor  favour,  but  for  the  removal 
of  the  injustice  of  condemnation  without  trial  or  accusation — the 
restoration  of  their  own  good  name  no  less  than  his ;  the  removal 
of  a  scandal  which  amazes  the  world,  and  the  continuance  of  which, 
by  the  direct  act  or  silence  of  the  Union,  will  be  a  stain  on  our 
practice,  which  no  "  exposition  of  congregational  principles"  will 
wipe  out,  but  only  intensify,  as  a  mocking  contrast  between  our 
high  professions  and  our  low  performances :  and  that  this  may  be 
averted  by  wisdom  given  to  the  assembly  "  to  do  justly,"  is  the 
only  desire  and  prayer  of  your  petitioner. 

"  B  re  win  Grant." 

In  reply  to  letters  urging  the  committee  to  lay  this  petition 
before  the  Assembly,  the  secretary  wrote  : — 

"  Congregational  Union  of  England  and  Wales. 

"  Dear  Sir, — The  committee  are  unable  to  comply  with  your 
request  to  present  to  the  Assembly  the  printed  petition  you  have 
seut  me.  I  am,  yours  truly, 

"  Rev.  Brewin  Grant,  B.A.  "  George  Smith." 


304 

After  the  laying  of  these  before  the  Court,  as  a  general  statement 
of  the  plaintiff's  case  and  as  the  basis  for  investigation,  the  Presi- 
dent directed  other  witnesses  to  be  called,  leaving  it  open  to  cross- 
examine  the  plaintiff  at  a  subsequent  stage  of  the  enquiry. 


Counter  Statement  on  Behalf  of  the  Congregational  Unionists, 
report  on  the  year-book. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Smith  :  I  have  now  to  submit  the  special  report  on 
the  Year  Book  which  was  adopted  by  the  Assembly. 

"  In  the  report  presented  to  the  last  annual  meeting  of  the  Con- 
gregational Union,  the  committee  explained  to  the  Assembly  the 
accidental  omission  from  the  former  report  of  a  statement  which 
ought  to  have  been  made,  '  on  the  terms  on  which  names  of 
ministers  are  inserted  or  omitted  from  the  Year  Booh ;'  and  they 
endeavoured  to  supply  the  deficiency  by  a  statement  of  what  they 
had  done  in  this  matter,  in  conformity  with  a  resolution  adopted  at 
Sheffield.  The  information  thus  conveyed  not  being  deemed  suffi- 
ciently definite  by  some  of  the  brethren,  the  subject  was  remitted  to 
the  committee  for  further  consideration,  and  for  a  subsequent 
report,  which  they  now  proceed  to  make.  In  June  of  last  year  the 
Committee  appointed  a  Sub-committee  of  their  number,  consisting  of 
eighteen  gentlemen,  to  consider  the  question.  They  met,  and  sent 
up  a  recommendation  to  the  effect  that  the  present  heading  of  the 
alphabetical  lists  be  expunged,  and  that  the  following  heading  should 
be  substituted : — '  Alphabetical  list  of  Independent  ministers  in 
England  whose  names  have  been  furnished  by  the  secretaries  of 
County  Associations  or  Unions,  or  by  the  secretaries  of  the  Con- 
gregational Board,  or  who  are  members  of  the  Congregational 
Union.'  Acting  on  this  minute,  which  was  adopted  by  the  com- 
mittee, the  editor  prepared  the  list  for  the  present  year. 

"  Exceptions  having  been  taken  to  the  operation  of  this  regulation, 
by  which  certain  names  were  excluded  from  the  list  which  it  was 
imagined  ought  to  have  been  inserted,  the  committee  again  referred 
the  subject  to  the  consideration  of  their  sub-committee,  who  recom- 
mended that  the  following  in  future  be  the  heading  in  the  Year 
Booh,  preceding  the  alphabetical  list,  instead  of  that  published  in 
1869  : — '  Independent  Ministers,  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  whose 
names  have  been  furnished  by  the  secretaries  of  associations  or 
unions,  or  by  the  secretaries  of  the  Congregational  board,  or  by  five 
ministers  already  on  the  list  and  residing  in  the  neighbourhood,  or 


305 

who   are  members   of  the   Congregational  Union.'     N.B. — These 
returns  in  each  case  are  made  annually. 

"It  will  be  observed  that  the  principal  change  in  this  heading 
from  that  which  appears  in  the  Year  Book  for  the  present  year  is 
found  in  the  provision  made  for  the  introduction  of  names  on  the 
testimony  of  five  neighbouring  ministers. 

"  After  the  most  mature  deliberation  given  by  your  committee  to 
the  subject,  they  recommend  the  Assembly  to  approve  the  proposed 
form  of  announcement,  as  the  only  way  of  avoiding  the  evil  of  making 
an  editor  or  a  committee  responsible  for  the  insertion  of  names,  and 
placing  the  responsibility  on  those  local  associations  with  which  the 
minister  may  be  connected,  or  on  his  ministerial  brethren  who  have 
recommended  the  insertion  of  his  name.  Your  approval  of  this  will 
give  for  the  future  a  certain  well-defined  regularity  to  the  list.  It  is 
important  to  state  that  the  editor  from  the  commencement  of  the 
publication  of  the  Year  Book  has  never  professed  to  furnish  a  list 
of  all  Independent  ministers,  but  only  the  names  of  such  as  were 
supplied  to  him  for  insertion, 

"  The  committee  are  free  to  acknowledge  that  in  changing  the 
heading  of  the  list,  before  reporting  to  the  Assembly,  they 
perhaps  acted  prematurely,  but  forasmuch  as  they  in  no  respect  de- 
parted from  the  fundamental  principle  on  which  names  have  been 
admitted  to  the  list  from  the  beginning,  they  anticipated  no  difficulty 
in  obtaining  the  approval  of  the  Assembly.  They  have  now  only  to 
add  that  no  name  has  been  omitted  from  the  Year  Book  of  1869  by 
the  operation  of  any  new  regulation  adopted  by  them,  but  because 
the  name  was  not  sent  to  the  editor  for  insertion  by  any  one  compe- 
tent to  send  it ;  and  that  in  accordance  with  the  course  which  had 
been  previously  pursued  in  the  preparation  of  the  Year  Book." 

That  is  the  entire  report  of  the  committee  ;  but  last  evening  in  the 
preliminary  meeting  a  conversation  upon  this  report,  which  was  then 
read,  and,  I  believe,  in  the  main  approved,  led  to  the  introduc- 
tion of  what  the  committee-  were  very  anxious  to  avoid — some- 
thing in  the  shape  of  personality.  It  resulted  in  the  adoption  of  a 
resolution  by  the  preliminary  meeting  which  they  instructed  me  to 
bring  up  and  lay  before  you.  The  preliminary  meeting  of  this 
Union  held  last  evening  determined  to  recommend  that  the  follow- 
ing resolution  be  submitted  to  the  Assembly  this  morning : — 

"  That  with  relation  to  the  complaint  which  the  Kev.  Brewin  Grant  has  made  as 
to  the  non-insertion  of  his  name  in  the  "Year  Book"  of  1869,  the  Assembly  hereby 
assures  him  that  no  personal  disrespect  was  intended  to  him  by  such  non-insertion, 
nor  had  it  any  relation  whatever  to  his  political  opinions,  nor  did  it  imply  the 
slightest  reflection  either  on  his  cnaracter  or  on  his  ministerial  standing."* 
*  "  The  English  Independent,"  May  14,  1869. 


306 

Examination  of  the  Eev.  Dr.  Geoege  Smith,  Secretary  of  the 
Congregational  Union. 

In  reply  to  the  question,  by  what  authority,  according  to  the 
principles  and  usages  of  the  Congregationalists,  the  Rev.  Brewin 
Grant's  name  had  been  omitted  from  "The  Alphabetical  List  of 
Congregational  Ministers  "  in  the  Year  Book  for  1869  ? — the  Rev. 
Dr.  Smith  said : 

The  whole  matter  is  explained  and  justified  in  the  Report  on  the 
subject,  which  was  submitted  to  the  Assembly  in  May,  1869,  and 
which  the  meeting  confirmed.  The  Report  in  question  had  been 
read  in  Court. 

Dr.  Smith  examined  mainly  on  the  basis  of  this  Report : — Was 
that  Report,  with  its  appendage  about  the  plaintiff's  case,  adopted 
by  the  Assembly  ?  The  Report  was  adopted  apart  from  that 
appended  resolution. — Then  the  Assembly  would  not  affirm — as 
advised  by  the  preliminary  meeting — that  the  non -insertion  of  the 
plaintiff's  name  "  intended  no  persoual  disrespect,"  had  "  no 
relation  whatever  to  his  political  sentiments,"  and  did  "  not  imply 
the  slightest  reflection  on  his  character  or  on  his  ministerial 
standing?"  No. — Did  they  admit,  then,  that  this  "  non-insertion" 
ivas  an  act  of  "  personal  disrespect  "  for  "  his  political  sentiments," 
by  which  he  lost  "  his  character  and  ministerial  standing  "  amongst 
Independents  ?  I  did  not  understand  it  so. — How  then  ?  The 
proposal  was  negatived. — Then  the  Assembly  did  not  agree  with 
the  Preliminary  Meeting's  interpretation  of  the  omission  of  this 
name  ?  They  might  agree  with  it,  and  yet  not  think  it  wise  to  assert 
it. — Why  ?  Because,  as  it  was  said,  it  would  seem  like  an  apology. — 
But,  if  the  statement  was  true,  why  should  they  be  afraid  or  ashamed 
to  accept  it  ?  I  cannot  say. — Did  you  consider  it  necessary  to  gain 
the  sanction  of  that  meeting,  in  order  to  give  validity  to  regulations 
that  were  suggested  in  the  Report  ?  The  Committee  has  authority 
©nly  to  suggest  and  recommend  alterations,  which  the  Assembly 
aaay  decline  or  accept,  and  in  this  case  the  Assembly  adopted  the 
new  rules. 

Then,  in  fact,  you  had  acted  upon  new  methods  that  had  not 
received  any  sanction? — "No  name  was  omitted  by  the  adoption  of 
any  new  regulation." 

What,  then,  do  you  mean  by  saying,  "exceptions  having  been 
taken  to  the  operation  of  this  resolution,  by  which  certain  names 
were  excluded  from  the  list"?  It  was  all  "in  accordance  with  the 
course  previously  pursued  in  the  preparation  of  the  Year  Book." 


307 

How  was  it,  then,  that  those  names  were  not  previously  excluded; 
and  how  can  it  be  "  by  the  operation  of  this  regulation "  that 
"  certain  names  were  excluded,"  if,  after  all,  no  alteration  of  the 
rules  had  been  made  ?  "  We  have  departed  from  no  fundamental 
principle  on  which  names  have  been  admitted  from  the  beginning." 

We  are  not  speaking  of  "  names  being  admitted,"  but  names 
being  "  omitted^  Did  you  not  say  that  this  omission  arose  from 
"the  operation  of  this  regulation"  which  you  proposed  to  the 
Assembly  ?     Yes. 

Then  "  this  regulation  "  was  not  in  operation  before  ?  Oh,  yes  ! 
We  always  acted  on  the  same  principle. 

Then  why  did  you  propose  "this  regulation  "  to  the  Assembly 
for  its  approval  if  you  had  always  acted  on  it  before  it  existed  ? 
Because  the  Assembly's  "  approval  "  would  "  give  for  the  future  a 
certain  well  defined  regularity  to  the  list." 

How  can  it  give  "  a  well  denned  regularity  for  the  future"  to  this 
list,  if  the  same  rule  has  existed  and  been  acted  on  in  the  past  ? 
I  do  not  understand. 

You  say  that  this  rule  has  always  been  acted  on  ?     Yes. 

And  that  "  its  approval "  by  the  Assembly  will  "  give  in  future  a 
well  denned  regularity  to  the  list"  ?     Yes. 

Then  hitherto  it  has  not  had  this  "well  denned  regularity?" 
Oh,  yes !  for  we  have  always  acted  on  the  same  rule. 

Without  securing  "  a  well  denned  regularity  to  the  list  ?"  I  do 
not  say  so. 

But  I  want  you  to  say  one  way  or  the  other — has  the  observance 
of  this  rule,  which  you  say  has  been  observed  in  the  past,  secured 
"  a  well  denned  regularity  to  the  list  ?"     No  answer. 

If  the  use  of  the  rule  in  the  past  had  not  secured  "  a  well  de- 
fined regularity  to  the  list,"  what  difference  would  be  made  in  its 
operation  by  its  receiving  the  "approval"  of  the  Assembly  ?  I 
have  replied  to  the  best  of  my  ability.    No  doubt. 

Will  you  be  good  enough  to  turn  to  the  foot  of  page  399  of  the 
Year  Book  for  1869  ?  I  have  it  here,  sir.  Well,  read  "  the 
Editorial  Notice."  "He  [the  editor]  would  bespeak  the  special 
attention  of  Association  Secretaries  in  Great  Britain,  Ireland,  and 
the  Colonies,  to  the  decision  of  the  Committee  of  the  Congregational 
Union,  respecting  the  names  to  be  inserted  in  the  Year  Book,  as 
indicated  at  the  head  of  the  Alphabetical  List.  No  names  of 
ministers  are  allowed  to  appear  but  those  which  have  been  returned 
to  the  editor  by  the  secretaries  of  country  associations,"  &c. 

Is   not  that  a  fundamental  change  —  making  every  minister 


308 


dependent  for  his  continuance  on  the  list  on  your  arbitrary  "  regu 
lation  ?"  We  have  not  departed  from  "  the  course  previously  pur 
sued." 

Then  how  is  it  that  the  editor  "bespeaks  special  attention"  to 
the  fact  that  "the  preparation  of  the  returns  has  been  made  this 
year  in  accordance  with  this  principle  ?"  The  rule  had  always  been 
acted  on. 

Was  it  "  traditional"  or  does  it  exist  in  any  Year  Book  "  at  the 
head"  of  any  "  alphabetical  list"  before  that  of  1869  ?  It  was  not 
a  written  rule. 

Were  not  your  "  notices"  after  this  fashion, — "  names  are  added 
to  this  list  ?"     Yes. 

Did  not  that  imply  that  the  persons  who  managed  the  list  had 
no  authority  to  remove  old  b7~t  only  to  admit  new  names,  according 
to  acknowledged  rules,  to  an  accredited  and  standing  list  ?  I  do 
not  quite  understand. 

Well,  can  you  direct  me  to  any  rule,  in  any  Year  Book,  giving 
the  committee  or  any  one  power  to  remove  a  minister's  name  ?  No 
answer. 

In  that  Report  you  say: — "It  is  important  to  state  that  the 
editor  of  the  Year  Book  has  never  professed  to  furnish  a  list  of  all 
Independent  Ministers,  but  only  such  as  were  supplied  to  him."  Do 
you  mean  that  he  did  not  profess  to  give  as  accurate  a  list  as  he 
was  able  to  obtain  ?     No. 

Among  those  "  supplied  to  him"  did  he  not  include  those  that 
came  originally  from  college,  "  supplied  "  "  by  the  authority  of 
tutors,"  &c,  according  to  the  old  "  headings  "  of  your  list  ?     Yes. 

Did  he  ever  before-hand  venture  to  acknowledge  that  he  assumed 
to  omit,  or  "  non-insert,"  names  that  had  been  "  previously 
supplied  to  him,"  on  the  pretext  that  they  were  not  re-supplied 
every  year  ?     No. 

Then,  in  seeing  the  "  importance "  of  saying  that  he  inserted 
"  only  those  that  were  supplied  to  him"  you  do  not  mean  that  he  may 
now  omit  them  because  not  supplied  again  ?     No  answer. 

Has  any  one  ever  said  that  the  editor  is  to  insert  names  that  are 
not  "  supplied  "  to  him  ?     No. 

Then  why  did  you  introduce  this  irrelevant  defence  ?  It  seemed 
necessary. 

Perhaps  so,  but  it  is  irrelevant  ?     I  do  not  see  it. 

Well,  if  nobody  complains  of  his  not  "  inserting  names  that  are 
not  supplied,"  why  do  you  say  that  he  has  never  done  this  ?  I 
cannot  tell. 


ir- 


309 

No,  but  I  can  :  is  it  not  this,  that  under  the  plea  of  never  having 
inserted  names  not  "  supplied  "from  certain  specified  sources,  he  may 
now  omit  oe  expunge  the  names  that  had  been  so  supplied  and 
had  long  stood  on  the  list — but  which  are  now,  if  convenient,  to  be 
omitted  on  the  plea  of  not  being  "  supplied"  annually  :  that  is,  "  sup- 
plied" in  a  new  sense,  namely,  by  secretaries,  to  whom  you  have  ille- 
gally transferred  the  responsibility,  of  "  expunging"  names  under 
the  cover  of  "  not  supplying"  them  ?     No  answer. 

"  You  now  use  the  word  "  supplied  to  him"  in  a  different  sense, 
to  prove  that  you  follow  the  old  plan  ?     No  answer. 

In  fact,  your  defence  is  an  equivocation.  It  is  true  we  never 
admitted  those  not  "  supplied." 

Yes  ;  but  now  you  do  omit  them,  under  the  pretence  that  they 
are  not  supplied  annually  ?     No  answer. 

"When  did  you  first  assume  this  power  ?  We  did  not  assume  it ; 
we  "  placed  the  responsibility  on  those  local  associations  with 
which  the  minister  may  be  connected,"  "  as  the  only  way  of  avoid- 
ing the  evil  of  making  an  editor  or  a  committee  responsible  for  the 
insertion  of  names." 

I  am  not  speaking  of  "insertion,"  but  I  [want  your  rules  for 
11  omission  ;"  if  you  never  had  this  power,  how  could  you  confer  it 
on  local  secretaries  or  associations'?  It  was  "to  avoid  respon- 
sibility." 

No  doubt  you  may  desire  to  avoid  that,  but  if  you  had  no  right 
arbitrarily  to  depose  the  Rev.  Brewin  Grant  by  erasing  his  name 
from  its  old  place  in  your  "Alphabetical  List,"  had  you  a  right  to 
make  a  regulation  to  do  it  on  condition  Dr.  Falding  pleased  not  to 
"return"  it  ?  I  do  not  wish  to  make  a  personal  question  of  the 
matter. 

Was  not  the  injury  "  personal,"  and  done  by  "  persons,"  by  the 
aid  of  "  personal,"  political  and  neological  motives?  It  is  said  so. 
Then  you  are  not  prepared  to  tell  me  whether  you  escape  "  respon- 
sibility "  by  employing  a  tool  to  do  what  you  have  no  right  to  do, 
either  with  or  without  the  tool  ?  We  had  the  authority  of  the 
Assembly  for  what  we  did. 

Then,  why  did  you  ask  for  its  "  approval"  six  months  after  you 
did  it  ?     We  secured  that  approval  afterwards. 

Then  you  acted  without  authority?  We  acted  "in  conformity 
with  a  resolution  adopted  at  Sheffield." 

Will  you  state  that  resolution  ?  Resolution  moved  by  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Parker,  seconded  by  Dr.  George  Smith  :  "  That  the  pastors, 
deacons  and  delegates  now  assembled  most  respectfully  request  the 


310 

committee  of  the  Union  to  consider  whether  any  alterations  should 
be  made  in  the  terms  upon  which  the  names  of  ministers  are 
inserted  in,  or  omitted  from,  the  Congregational  Year  Book,  and  to 
report  upon  the  same  at  the  Annual  Meeting  in  May  next." 

Did  you  "  report  to  the  Annual  Meeting  in  May  next," — that  is, 
in  1867  ?     No. 

Did  you  not  say,  in  October  of  that  year,  in  the  public  meeting 
in  Manchester,  that  the  committee  had  reported  and  that  its  sug- 
gested alterations  were  accepted  by  the  Assembly  ?  Yes  ;  and  my 
colleague,  the  Rev.  Robert  Ashton,  confidently  confirmed  my 
words  ;*  but  I  afterwards  offered  to  Mr.  Grant  and  all  the  members 
of  the  Union  an  expression  of  my  sincere  regret f  for  the  mistake. 

It  certainly  was  a  curious  mistake  for  both  of  you  to  make,  on  a 
subject  in  which  you  were  both  so  deeply  concerned.  But  had  you 
legislated  instead  of  reporting,  and  already  made  an  alteration  in  the 
terms,  so  as  to  provide  a  method  of  expulsion  without  consulting  the 
Assembly  ?     Yes. 

Did  the  resolution  authorize  you  to  make  any  alteration  ?  We 
were  "to  consider  whether  any  alterations  should  be  made." 

And  "  to  report  ?"     Yes. 

And  you  did  not  report,  but  legislated  six  months  before  the 
Assembly  met  ?     Yes. 

You  assumed  or  conferred  the  power  of  secret  "  ministerial 
decapitation?"  That  is  not  "a  gentlemanly  way  of  putting  the 
matter."| 

But  you  gave  license  to  any  tutor  or  secretary,  or  batch  of  three 
ministers  to  get  rid,  by  excommunication,  of  any  independent 
brother  ?  We  simply  altered  the  heading  of  the  Alphabetical  List, 
thus :  "  Ministers  are  added  to  this  List,  or  omitted  from  it,  on 
the  testimony  and  authority  of  tutors  of  colleges,  secretaries  of 
local  associations,  three  ministers,"  &c. 

Exactly,  you  might  as  well  have  said  "  Yes,"  at  once.  You  gave 
power  "  to  omit  from  "  the  list  of  ministers,  that  is,  to  excommuni- 
cate and  depose  any  in  a  private  fashion,  and  you  have  used  this 
engine  against  the  plaintiff  to  secure  your  empire  by  a  coup  d'etat  ? 
He  may  please  to  say  so,  in  order  to  make  himself  a  martyr. 

Was  it  he  or  you,  and  Dr.  Falding,  and  the  Committee,  who 
employed  Mr.  Ashton  to  erase  his  name,  and  depose  him  from  his 
profession,  instigated  by  The  English  Independent  newspaper  ?  I 
do  not  see  the  relevance  of  the  question. 

•  "Dissenting  World,"  p.  223.   f  Ibid,  p.  226.  J  "  Dissenting  World,"  p.  222. 


311 

Did  he  strike  himself  off  the  rolls  ?  The  English  Independent, 
of  April  29,  explains,  that  "  the  omission  of  Mr.  Grant's  name  befell 
by  natural  operation  of  law." 

But  who  surreptitiously  made  the  "  law,"  and  put  it  into 
"  natural  operation  "  to  the  plaintiff's  injury  ?     No  answer. 

In  your  apology  for  the  grave  mistake  made  by  you  and  your 
colleague  at  Manchester,  you  promised  that  "  the  effected  altera- 
tion," which  you  had  smuggled  into  the  Year  Book,  should  "  be 
reported  to  the  next  annual  meeting,  when  opportunity  will  be 
afforded  of  ascertaining  how  far  it  meets  the  views  and  wishes  of 
the  brethren  ?"*    Yes. 

Did  you,  then,  in  London,  in  May,  1868,  present  this  question 
to  the  Union  as  a  proposal  to  be  considered,  or  only  refer  to  it 
in  the  report  as  legislation  accomplished  ?  The  report  as  in  the 
Y'ear  Book  for  1869,  says  of  "  the  effected  alteration — "  they  (the 
committee)  now  submit  it  for  your  judgment  and  approval." 

Yes;  for  their  "approval,"  but  was  it  put  before  the  meeting 
as  a  distinct  proposition  to  be  debated,  or  merely  as  part  of  a 
report  of  what  was  already  done,  and  had  been  accidentally 
omitted  to  be  reported  before  ?  We  said,  "  this  alteration,  which 
ought  to  have  been  reported  to  the  last  annual  meeting,  was  by  a 
pure  oversight,  which  your  committee  regret,  omitted  from  the 
report." 

Exactly  ;  you  laid  it  before  them  as  an  "  alteration"  which  you 
had  "  effected,"  when  you  were  authorised  only  to  report  as  to 
whether  alterations  were  needed,  but  had  no  authority  to  make 
them?     You  say  so. 

Well,  did  the  Assembly  give  its  ' 'approval"  to  your  "  alteration?" 
The  Year  Book  (for  1869,  p.  33),  says,  it  was  "  moved  and 
seconded,"  "that  this  Assembly,  in  receiving  and  adopting  the 
report  now  read,  tenders  its  cordial  thanks,"  &c.  Do  you  not  know 
that  the  statement  is  untrue,  so  far  as  your  "  effected  alteration  "  is 
concerned  ?     That  was  the  resolution  of  the  Assembly. 

Was  there  not  a  debate  on  the  alteration  in  question,  and  was 
not  the  consideration  of  it  reserved  for  a  future  occasion  ?     Yes. 

Then  the  Assembly  was  not  yet  prepared  to  endorse  your  new 
rule  of  tyranny,  and,  in  fact,  did  not  favour  it  with  "  approval?" 
Not  on  that  occasion. 

Then  why  not  say  so  at  first  ?  How  came  the  disapproval  of  the 
Assembly  to  be  concealed  in  the  Year  Book  ?  I  do  not  edit  that 
volume  ;    it  is  my  colleague's  department. 

*  "Dissenting  World,"  p.  226. 


312 

¥bu  mean  the  Rev.  Robt.  Ashton,  who  gives  the  finishing  stroke 
to  ministerial  decapitations?  He  compiles  the  lists  from  the  returns 
of  the  local  secretaries. 

And  strikes  oft',  without  enquiring  of  the  victims,  any  whom  such 
as  Dr.  Falding  may  proscribe  under  your  "  effected  alterations  ?" 
He  completes  the  list. 

And  finishes  his  brethren  ?     No  answer. 

But  now  about  that  debate  which  is  so  carefully  omitted  by  your 
colleague  ;  what  did  the  chairman,  Dr.  Raleigh,  say  of  your 
"  conformity  with  the  resolution  adopted  at  Sheffield?"  I  do  not 
remember. 

Let  me  refresh  your  memory  from  the  English  Independent  ;* — 
"  The  Chairman  :  It  has  come  upon  me  partly  by  surprise.    It  seems 

THERE  NEVER    HAS    BEEN  A  REPORT    GIVEN    TO    THIS    UNION    from    the 

Committee  that  was  appointed  to  report  to  it,  and  that  we  have 
the  thing  now  tabulated  and  adopted  without  really  having  our- 
selves SANCTIONED    IT." 

So  this  new  law  was  as  clandestine  in  its  manufacture  as  it  is 
silent  and  dark  in  its  operation  ?  Do  you  mean  that  as  a  question  ? 
Right,  sir  ;  there  is,  as  you  delicately  hint,  no  question  about  it. 

There  is,  however,  a  question  to  which  I  "  bespeak  your  special 
attention."  The  seconder  of  the  motion  for  the  adoption  of  your 
report,  in  objecting  to  your  "  effected  alteration,"  pointed  out  that 
it  put  the  power  of  exclusion  into  the  same  hands  as  held  the 
authority  to  recommend  :  for  instance,  as  any  tutor,  secretary,  or 
three  ministers  could  secure  the  addition  of  a  name  to  the  list  of 
accredited  ministers,  so  "  according  to  the  wording"  of  the  altera- 
tion, any  such  parties  could  "  cause  a  name  to  be  omitted." 

In  explanation  of  this,  he  observed,  "  I  think  the  mistake  arises 
from  endeavouring  to  condense  into  one  sentence  the  terms  of 
admission  and  of  omission."  Now  I  want  your  attention  to  your 
answer  on  this  point ;  you  said,  "  I  have  no  doubt  that  attempting 
to  put  the  whole  definition  into  one  short  phrase  led  to  obscurity." 

What  "  obscurity  "  do  you  mean  ?  I  mean  that  it  confounded  the 
terms  of  omission  and  admission,  and  made  them  appear  to  be  the 
same. 

Undoubtedly,  there  can  be  no  other  interpretation  of  your  an- 
swer. Though  there  is  no  possible  "  obscurity"  in  the  "definition," 
it  does  clearly  give  power  to  such  persons  as  can  recommend  minis- 
ters to  expel  them  at  any  time. 


The  Dissenting  World,"  p.  228. 


313 

But  was  not  that  the  plain  doctrine  of  your  "  alteration"  and  your 
own  express  teachings  that  the  same  rule  applies  to  both  cases  ? 
That  is  what  I  objected  to,  or  rather  I  accepted  and  endorsed  the 
objection  of  the  seconder. 

True,  for  that  occasion  :  but  did  not  your  colleague  write  to  the 
plaintiff  about  another  victim,  and  say,  "the  authority  applies 
equally  to  admission  or  omission  ?  This  is  all  I  can  say."*  I  am 
not  responsible  for  my  colleague. 

But  you  act  together,  and  he  is  your  official  editor.  Besides, 
did  you  not  write  defending  him  in  a  letter  to  the  plaintiff,  in  which 
you  say,  "  he  [your  colleague]  simply  acted  on  a  rule  which  he 
applies  alike  to  admission  and  omission  ?"f  I  do  not  remember; 
Mr.  Grant  has  a  way  of  keeping  letters  and  quoting  them. 

That,  no  doubt,  is  unfortunate  for  the  other  side ;  but  as  to  your 
memory,  now.  Would  not  such  a  scene  as  the  one  in  London — 
when  you  were  again,  for  the  third  time,  publicly  pestered  with  this 
awkward  Year  Book  question — make  an  impression  that  would  last 
a  twelvemonth  ?     I  should  think  it  would. 

Well,  on  the  occasion  referred  to,  the  Chairman,  who  then 
honestly  followed  plain  common  sense,  concluded  by  suggesting  a 
reference  of  "  this  point  for  consideration  during  the  year,  and 
bringing  it  up  again  for  adoption  in  an  amended  form  ?"     Yes. 

To  which  you  replied :  "I  think  that  would  be  a  very  wise 
course."  "  It  can  be  taken  into  consideration  and  reported  upon 
at  a  future  meeting."  Now,  did  you  forget  all  about  this  during 
the  same  year  ?     I  do  not  remember. 

Did  you,  in  reply  to  the  inquiry  whether  the  question  was 
reported  on  at  Leeds,  in  the  autumn  of  1868,  say:  "  So  far  as  I 
remember,  the  Year  Book  question  was  not  put  down  for  Leeds,  it 
having  been  decided  upon  at  the  annual  meeting,  if  my  memory 
serves  me  aright  ?"  \     I  may  have  written  that. 

Speaking  of  "  writing,"  has  it  not  been  affirmed  that  the  plaintiff 
was  written  to  several  times  and  neglected  to  answer,  respecting 
qualifying  for  being  on  the  list  ?  I  heard  Dr.  Falding  and  the 
Bev.  Hughes  Morgan  make  that  assertion,  and  they  implied  that 
his  neglect  to  answer  was  the  occasion  of  the  omission  of  his  name. 

True,  they  hinted  so,  and  knew  better  ;  I  shall  talk  to  them  all 
in  good  time  ;  but  did  not  the  plaintiff,  in  the  same  letter  which 
enquired  about  the  Leeds  meeting  in  October,  1868,  ask  whether 

*  "  Dissenting  "World,"  p.  198.        t  "  Dissenting  World,"  p.  203. 
♦  "Dissenting  World,"  p.  231. 


314 

*'  the  entirely  new  plan  "  "for  arranging  the  lists  of  the  Congrega- 
tional Year  Book,  as  prognosticated  in  the  English  Independent  and 
Nonconformist,  "  refers  to  new  ministers  only,  or  to  names  that 
have  long  been  on  the  list  ?"*     Perhaps  he  did. 

Were  not  you  the  proper  party,  as  the  Secretary  of  the  Union,  of 
whom  to  make  this  inquiry  ?     Yes. 

Then,  though  no  man's  position  should  be  seriously  affected  and 
undermined  by  new  rules,  of  whose  operation  he  receives  no  notice, 
could  he  have  done  anything  more  to  avoid  the  threatened  blow 
than  ask  you  what  the  new  rule  was,  or  whether  it  affected  him  ? 
I  directed  him  to  Mr.  Ashton. 

That  is  your  colleague  ?     Yes. 

But  are  you  aware  that  he  wrote  several  times  on  the  subject  of 
these  alterations  to  that  colleague  of  yours  and  got  no  answer  ?  I 
was  not  aware  of  that. 

Can  you  trust  your  memory  in  this  case  ?     I  do  not  remember. 

Are  you  still  of  opinion  that  in  twice  making  alterations  in  the 
fundamental  rules  of  your  society  affecting  the  status  of  ministers 
outside  it,  instead  of  reporting  to  the  Assembly,  you  were  acting 
"  in  conformity  with  the  resolution  adopted  at  Sheffield  ?"  We  say 
distinctly  in  our  report  that  "the  Committee  are  free  to  acknowledge 
that  in  changing  the  heading  of  the  list,  before  reporting  to  the 
Assembly,  they,  perhaps,  acted  prematurely. 

"  Perhaps  "  they  did ;  but  it  is  not  only  "  prematurely,"  it  is  in 
direct  contempt  of  the  Assembly  for  you  to  make  any  alteration  at 
all,  since  you  had  no  authority  to  do  so.  But  was  it  not  a  still 
graver  fault  to  take  action  against  an  individual  on.  a  rule  that  had 
not  been  passed,  even  if  the  Assembly  were  competent  to  pass  it  ? 
The  rule  was  not  made  for  an  individual. 

No,  but  against  him.  Do  you  think  that  you  would  have 
introduced  the  resolution  at  Sheffield, — which  you  shirked  for  three 
years, — or  that  you  would  have  made  the  second  alterations  to  cut 
him  off,  or  would  have  reported  to  the  Assembly  in  18G9,  if  the 
plaintiff  had  not  occasioned  all  these  steps  ?  He  thinks  himself  of 
too  much  consequence. 

Nay,  it  is  you  that  give  consequence  to  him,  or  acknowledge  it ; 
but  you  have  not  answered  my  question : — Was  it  not  he  who  caused 
the  resolution  to  be  adopted  at  Sheffield,  in  1866,  and  made  you 
afraid  of  carrying  it  out,  and  forced  you  to  do  so  in  1869  ?  And 
did  you  not  think  the  late  political  agitation  a  favourable  oppor- 

*  "Dissenting  World,"  p.  231. 


315 

tunity,  from  Liberal  prejudice,  to  secure  impunity  in  throwing  him 
overboard  ?     I  am  not  bound  to  answer  such  questions. 

Sir,  you  are.  Whose  correspondence  with  you,  as  secretary, 
caused  the  question  of  the  Year  Book  to  be  introduced  at  Sheffield  ? 
The  plaintiff's. 

If  you  had  not  confessed  it,  I  could  have  shown  you  your  own 
words  in  acknowledgment  of  the  fact.  Now  tell  me  who  caused 
the  question  to  be  brought  up  in  London,  in  May,  1868  ?  The 
plaintiff's  pertinacity. 

Who  forced  on  the  same  question  in  May,  1869  ?  The  plaintiff's 
pertinacity. 

Then  you  have  shifted  the  whole  basis  of  your  constitution, 
and  got  rid  of  your  principles  to  get  rid  of  "  the  plaintiff's  pertina- 
city" in  the  defence  of  truth  and  justice  ?  We  have  not  changed 
our  constitution  ;  we  pursue  the  same  course  as  previously. 

Do  you  not  say  in  your  report,  in  reference  to  a  second  great 
alteration  in  the  formation  of  your  ministerial  list,  that  "■  acting  on 
this  minute  [of  the  Committee]  the  editor  prepared  the  list  for  the 
present  year  "  ?     Yes. 

Is  not  that  an  alteration  of  the  constitution  of  your  society,  to 
make  it  the  autocrat  of  the  denomination,  so  as  to  depose  ministers 
by  the  unauthorised  action  of  a  committee  of  a  Union  that  com- 
prises only  a  fraction  of  the  denomination  '?  I  think  not ;  and  as  I 
said  before,  "  no  name  has  been  omitted  from  the  Year  Book  of 
1869  by  the  operation  of  any  new  regulation." 

You  said  that  before,  and  did  not  explain  your  contradiction  of 
it: — namely,  "exceptions  having  been  taken  to  the  operation  of 
this  regulation  by  which  certain  names  were  excluded  from  the  list,'" 
&c.     Can  you  explain  it  now  ?     No  answer. 

Well,  can  you  tell  me  by  what  old  regulation  the  plaintiff's  name 
was  omitted  ?     No  answer. 

Do  you  know  any  other  circumstance  than  his  opposition  to 
Liberal  Gladstonianism,  which  should  operate  to  his  expulsion  now, 
and  that  would  not  equally  have  operated  for  1868,  or  for  any 
of  the  previous  twenty- five  years  during  which  his  name  was  in- 
serted ?     No  answer. 

Come,  sir,  you  have  done  admirably  under  the  circumstances  ; 
you  can  certainly  say  "  yes"  or  "no"  to  this  question.  A.s  it  is  by 
no  "  new  regulation"  that  his  name  is  omitted,  can  you  mention 
any  old  regulation,  and  explain  why  this  expulsion  did  not  "  befall 
by  operation  of  law"  till  the  introduction  of  your  "  new  regulation" 
for  1869  ?     I  am  not  at  present  prepared  with  any  definite  rule. 


316 

Well,  sir,  if  yon  think  of  one  before  the  examination  of  witnesses 
is  concluded,  my  honourable  friends  on  the  other  side  will  no  doubt 
put  you  forward. 

Dr.  Smith  then  stepped  down. 


The    Key.    Dr.    Alexander    Ealeigh's   Examination    on  the 
Validity  of  the  Committee's  "  Premature"  Legislation. 

You  were  chairman  of  the  Congregational  Union  in  May,  1868, 
and  presided  as  "  retiring  chairman  "  over  the  "  preliminary  meet- 
ing," May  10,  1869  ?     Yes. 

Is  the  Committee  of  the  Union  the  master  or  the  servant  of  the 
Assembly  ?     The  servant. 

Did  you  consider  the  Committee  went  beyond  its  province,  when 
being  requested,  and  having  agreed,  to  consider  and  report  whether 
any  alterations  were  required  in  the  "  method  of  admitting  to  or  omit- 
ting Ministers'  names  from  the  accredited  list,"  it  inserted  a  new  rule 
giving  power  to  certain  parties  to  depose  their  brethren  from  the 
Congregational  ministry  ?  My  evidence  has  been  already  quoted  : 
I  distinctly  affirmed  that  "  no  report  had  been  given  by  the  Com- 
mittee that  was  appointed  to  report  to  the  Assembly,  and  that  we 
have  the  thing  [that  is,  the  new  "  premature"  rule]  tabulated  and 
adopted  without  really  having  ourselves  sanctioned  it." 

And  you  suggested  the  postponement  of  the  question  "for  con- 
sideration during  the  year,  and  bringing  it  up  again  for  adoption  in 
another  form"  ?     Yes. 

Then  the  Assembly  did  not  "  adopt  it"  in  May,  1868  ?     No. 

Did  not  Dr.  Smith  promise  to  adopt  your  suggestion,  "  and  re- 
port upon  '  the  matter'  at  a  future  meeting"  ?     Yes. 

Do  you  consider  that  after  this  open  rebuff  by  the  Assembly,  for 
'•'premature"  legislation,  the  Committee  had  liberty  to  repeat  the 
offence  by  printing  in  the  Year  Book  for  1869  a  still  more  strin- 
gent code,  changing  the  entire  character  of  the  list,  and  of  the 
principles  of  its  construction  ?  I  do  not  know  that  such  entire 
change  was  made. 

If  you  considered  the  Committee  wrong  in  its  previous  act  of 
forming  a  law  and  "  tabulating"  it  before  the  Assembly  "  really 
sanctioned  it,"  do  you  think  they  were  justified  in  repeating  that 
error  ?     I  am  not  the  judge  of  the  committee. 

Pray  sir,  does  a  "  retiring  chairman"  mean  one  who  "  retires"  from 
his  acknowledged  principles  ?  I  am  not  bound  to  answer  such  a 
question. 


317 

If  it  was  illegal  for  the  Committee  to  legislate  instead  of  report- 
ing in   one  year,  was  it  legal  the  next  ?     No. 

Did  you  protest  against  this  second  open  infringement  on  the 
authority  of  the  Assembly  and  the  rights  of  the  Ministry  ?  I  was 
not  called  upon  to  protest. 

But  were  you  not,  as  President,  whether  "retiring"  or  "  inaugu- 
ral," bound  to  see  that  the  rules  and  principles  of  the  Union  were 
not  openly  violated  ?     Perhaps  so. 

Yet  "  not  called  upon  to  protest"  against  it  ?  Not  necessary 
sarily.  But  morally,  and  as  a  Christian  man,  in  defence  of  the  rights 
of  illegally  expelled  brethren,  and  the  honour  of  the  Assembly '? 
The  Assembly  can  take  care  of  its  own  honour. 

I  doubt  that.  Did  it  defend  its  own  honour  in  accepting  illegal 
rules,  that  had  already  been  clandestinely  employed  to  the  injury 
of  individuals,  and  after  such  illegal  assumption  of  making  rules 
had  been  by  it  publicly  repudiated  the  year  before  ?  The  Assem- 
bly is  the  best  judge  of  that. 

Perhaps  so,  but  as  the  Assembly  is  not  here,  will  you  favour  us 
with  your  judgment  ?      I  decline  to  answer. 

Can  you  explain  how  it  was  that  an  Assembly  of  Independents 
should  so  readily  abdicate  its  authority  to  the  Committee,  its  ser- 
vant, and  submit  to  be  a  second  time  informed  of  laws  made  for  it, 
and  without  its  sanction  or  knowledge  ?      I  cannot  say. 

Was  it  because,  in  "  the  particular  case"  most  involved,  there 
was  a  political  feeling  excited  by  denominational  organs  against  the 
person  injured ;  so  that  the  Assembly  was  willing  to  be  ridden  by 
its  committee,  and  the  ministers  ready — partly  out  of  fear  and 
partly  out  of  liberality — to  sacrifice  their  own  independence  on  the 
altar  of  fidelity  to  Mr.  Gladstone  ? 

The  committee  and  a  large  "preliminary  meeting"  decided 
unanimously — with  one  exception — under  my  presidencj",  that 
"  the  non-insertion  of  Mr.  Grant's  name  had  not  any  relation  what- 
ever to  his  political  sentiments." 

Exactly  :  and  you,  having  agreed  to  this,  and  requested  that  there 
should  be  no  debate  on  it,  but  that  it  should  be  recommended  to  the 
Assembly  next  day  at  once  to  accept  this  as  part  of  the  "com- 
promise," joined  Dr.  Halley  and  others  in  arguing  for  setting  it 
aside '?  I  was  not  quite  satisfied  with  the  decision  of  the  preliminary 
meeting. 

But  you  concurred  in  setting  that  decision  aside  which  you 
recommended  should  be  accepted ;  and  so  you  aided  the  Assembly 
to  contradict  by  rejecting  the  assertion  of  the  preliminary  meeting — 


318 

that  "the  non-insertion  of  his  name  had  not  any  relation  whatever 
to  his  political  sentiments  ?"  I  agreed  with  the  decision  of  the 
Assembly. 

And  differed  from  the  opinion  of  the  preliminary  meeting  ?  I 
considered  that  its  decision  took  the  form  of  "  an  apology,"  and  we 
had  done  him  "  no  wrong." 

Was  it  not  wrong  to  legislate  without  authority,  and  condemn 
and  ministerially  execute  the  plaintiff  on  that  unauthorised  law,  and 
without  any  notice  or  trial  ?     No  answer. 

You  do  not  like  to  say?  As  "  retiring  chairman,"  you  think  it 
modest  to  conceal  your  opinion  ?     You  can  retire  again. 

Dr.  Raleigh  retires. 


The  Rev.  Dr.  Falding,  Resident  Tutor  of  Rotherham  College, 

Examined. 

You  are  the  Secretary  of  the  Sheffield  District  of  the  West 
Riding  Congregational  Association  ?  No ;  I  was  the  Secretary  of 
that  district  till  the  close  of  1868.  That  office  is  now  filled  by  the 
Rev.  David  Loxton,  of  Sheffield. 

While  Secretary  of  the  district  what  was  your  duty  in  relation  to 
the  general  list  of  congregational  ministers  ?  To  supply  to  the 
editor  of  the  Year  Book  information  of  any  changes  in  the  ministry 
of  the  district,  so  that  the  general  alphabetical  list  of  congregational 
ministers  might  be  continued  in  a  correct  state. 

Should  you  feel  at  liberty  to  omit  the  name  of  any  minister 
resident  in  your  district,  so  as  to  procure  or  promote  its  removal 
from  the  general  alphabetical  list  ?  "  Dr.  Smith  has  said  that  per- 
haps the  responsibility  should  rest  not  on  the  editor  of  the  Year 
Book,  but  on  the  local  informant — the  person  who  had  supplied  the 
information.  But  I  am  not  sure  that  that  is  quite  right.  I  think 
the  editor  ought  to  satisfy  himself  that  he  has  the  information  from 
the  right  party,  and  then  it  becomes  a  kind  of  divided  authority."* 

That  is  what  you  said  over  the  case  that  brought  on  a  motion 
for  inquiry  ?     Yes. 

Then  you  think  that  you  and  the  editor  of  the  Year  Book  between 
you,  have  the  "divided"  or  combined  "authority"  to  drop  any 
name  you  may  agree  to  have  erased  ?  I  have  already  hinted  that 
such  removal  or  insertion  of  names  in  arranging  the  list  should  be 
by  "  a  kind  of  divided  authority." 

*  "  The  Particular  Case,"  p.  7.     "  Dissenting  World,"  p.  208. 


319 

You  said  "  the  editor  should  satisfy  himself  that  he  had  the  infor- 
mation from  the  right  party":  what  did  you  mean  by  that  ?  I 
meant  that  the  editor  of  the  Year  Book  should  know  the  party  who 
gives  information  as  to  the  names  to  be  retained,  omitted,  or  added. 

But  who  is  the  "  right  party  ?"     The  secretary  of  the  district. 

Who  was  secretary  at  that  time  ?     I  was. 

You  say  "  the  editor  should  satisfy  himself  that  he  has  the  infor- 
mation from  the  right  party,"  and  that  you  were  "  the  right  party  :" 
could  he,  then,  be  in  any  doubt  as  to  the  party  ?  I  do  not  say  he 
could. 

Then  why  should  he  have  to  "  satisfy  himself"  on  a  subject  on 
which  he  was  "  satisfied  ?"     I  do  not  see  the  drift  of  the  question. 

Is  that  necessary  before  giving  a  plain  answer  ?     No  reply. 

Were  you  not  the  "  local  informant  "  in  the  case  then  referred  to  ? 
I  was  the  secretary  of  the  district. 

Were  you  not  "  the  local  informant  ?"     Yes. 

Then  did  you  inform  the  editor  that  the  name  of  the  Rev.  Isaac 
Yaughan  should  be  omitted  from  the  list  of  ministers  ?  I  have 
already  said,  and  it  has  been  made  public,  that  "I  accepted  no 
responsibility  whatever  for  the  contents  of  the  Year  Book,  nor  had 
I  anything  to  do  with  the  removal  of  Mr.  Yaughan's  name  from  that 
list."* 

But  were  you  not  "  the  local  informant  "  on  whose  information 
the  list  was  corrected  from  year  to  year  ?  I  am  not  responsible  for 
what  the  editor  put  into  "  that  list." 

But  are  you  responsible  for  what  you  put  into  your  own — the  list 
you  send  up  for  him  to  correct  by  ?     Yes. 

Then,  if  on  the  ground  of  this  local  list  in  your  return,  he  alters 
"  that  list,"  which  is  professed  to  be  founded  on  yours,  have  you  no 
responsibility  in  the  matter  ?     "I  have  accepted  "  none. 

Did  not  Dr.  Smith  state  publicly  in  your  presence,  in  Sheffield,  in 
connection  with  the  omission  of  the  Rev.  Isaac  Yaughan's  name 
from  the  Year  Book,  that  "  the  editor  always  depended  on  local. 

INTELLIGENCE  ?"f       YeS. 

Then  had  he  your"  local  intelligence"  to  guide  him  in  that 
omission  ?     I  am  not  responsible  for  the  contents  of  the  Year  Book. 

Was  that  list,  so  far  as  your  district  is  concerned,  founded  on 
your  "  local  intelligence  ?"     The  editor  used  his  own  judgment. 

Guided  by  your  "  intelligence  ?"  I  do  not  see  the  necessity  of 
answering  questions  so  put. 

*  "Dissenting  World,"  p.  275.    t  Ibid,  p.  207. 


320 

No,  but  you  see  the  necessity  of  not  answering  them  ?  I  do  not 
see  the  necessity  of  answering  that. 

Perhaps  not,  and  sometimes  silence  goes  as  far  as  speech.  Did 
Dr.  Smith  say  what  was  true  when  he  declared  that  the  editor  of 
the  Year  Book  "  always  depended  on  local  intelligence?"  I  am 
not  here  to  question  Dr.  Smith's  word. 

But  does  not  his  statement  directly  contradict  yours  ?  No. 
I  have  never  said  that  the  editor  did  not  "  always  depend  on  local 
intelligence." 

But  could  he  "  depend  on  local  intelligence  "  if  you  returned 
Mr.  Vaughan's  name  for  insertion  and  he  omitted  it,  contrary  to 
your  "  intelligence  ?"     The  editor  uses  his  own  judgment. 

Then  he  does  not  "  always  depend  on  local  intelligence  ?"  I  did 
not  say  he  does  ;  but  Dr.  Smith  said  so. 

And  it  was  not  true  as  to  that  "  particular  case  ?"  I  do  not 
my  so. 

Then  it  was  true  ?     I  do  not  say  so. 

It  was  either  true  or  not  ?     I  see  no  other  alternative  at  present. 

But,  if  it  was  true,  then  you  had,  as  "  local  informant,"  caused 
the  omission  of  the  name  ?  I  have  only  said  that  I  had  not  "  any- 
thing to  do  with  the  removal  of  Mr.  Vaughan's  name  from  that 
list" — it  would  be  the  editor's  act. 

But  if  he  acted  on  your  "information,"  had  not  this  "  anything 
to  do  with  it  ?"     I  do  not  say  that  he  acted  on  my  "  information." 

Nobody  said  you  did  say  it ;  but  Dr.  Smith  said  it  and  you  did 
not  contradict  it,  but  partly  implied  it  in  saying  that  the  editor 
"  should  satisfy  himself  that  he  had  the  information  from  the  right 
party,  and  then  it  became  a  kind  of  divided  authority" — you  meant 
"divided"  between  the  editor  and  you?  I  did  not  say  that  I 
furnished  him  with  the  information  in  that  case. 

Did  you  say  that  you  did  not  1     No. 

Will  you  say  so  ?iow  ?     No  answer. 

Did  you  permit  yourself  to  be  publicly  accused  of  an  act  of  which 
you  were  innocent  ?  One  cannot  answer  everybody's  wild  accusa- 
tions. 

But  have  you  not  since  answered  this  wild  accusation,  in  your 
letter,  saying  "  nor  had  I  anything  to  do  with  the  removal  of  Mr. 
Vaughan's  name  from  that  list?"  I  was  not  responsible  for  the 
editor's  "  depending  on  local  intelligence." 

No,  that  is  certainly  the  editor's  responsibility.  But  were  you 
not  responsible  for  the  "  intelligence"  on  which  it  is  said  he  acted? 
I  am  not  responsible  for  his  use  of  it. 


321 

But  for  your  conveyance  of  the  information  '?  That  did  not 
remove  the  name  from  the  Year  Book. 

No,  but  it  caused  its  removal '?  Not  necessarily,  for  the  editor 
need  not  have  acted  on  it. 

Not  if  "he  always  depended  on  his  local  informant  ?"  It  was 
not  necessary  that  he  should  depend  on  his  local  informant. 

But  if  he  did,  must  he  not  necessarily  omit  the  names  that  you 
indicated  for  omission  ?     That  is  "  an  abstract  question." 

Then  you  think  that  the  information  on  which  a  man  acts  has 
not  "  anything  to  do"'  with  his  actions  ?  I  do  not  say  so.  I  denied 
that  I  had  "anything  to  do  with  the  removal  of  Mr.  Yaughan's 
name  from  that  list."  I  did  not  say  the  "  information  had  not 
anything  to  do  with  it." 

But  who  gave  the  information  '?  It  was  the  editor's  duty  to 
"  satisfy  himself  that  he  had  it  from  the  right  party." 

And  being  "  satisfied"  of  this,  to  act  upon  it  ?  He  must  use  his 
own  judgment. 

As  to  "the  right  party?"  Yes,  and  as  to  the  validity  of  the 
information. 

Then  "the  right  party"  might  give  wrong  information  ?  Possibly. 

But  you  were  "  the  right  party"  in  this  case  ?     Yes. 

Did  you  give  the  wrong  information  '?     No  answer. 

Was  the  list  formed  on  your  information  ?  It  was  founded  on 
the  editor's  own  judgment. 

Guided  by  your  information  ?  That  might  aid  his  judgment, 
but  the  actual  "  removal"  of  the  name,  was  the  editor's  act,  not 
mine,  and  in  that  sense  I  had  not  "  anything  to  do  with  its  removal 
from  that  list." 

You  mean  the  sort  of  "  sense'  in  which  one  who  lays  the  train 
has  not  "anything  to  do  with"  the  explosion,  because  he  did  not 
light,  or  at  least  did  not  apply,  the  match  ?  I  have  already  ex- 
plained the  sense  in  which  my  words  were  to  be  taken. 

Then  in  the  same  sense  you  had  not  "  anything  to  do  with  the  re- 
moval "  of  the  plaintiff's  name  from  that  list"  ?  I  some  time  ago 
wrote  to  Mr.  Grant  saying  :  "I  know  nothing  about  the  removal  of 
your  name  from  the  list  of  ministers  in  the  Congregational  Year 
Book.  I  was  not  aware  that  it  had  l)een  removed  until  informed 
by  your  letter."* 

In  what  sense  did  you  "know  nothing  about"  this  transac- 
tion ?  Were  you  not  aware  before  it  was  done  that  it  would  be 
done  ?     No  one  can  be  certain  of  any  event  till  it  has  occurred. v 

*  •'  Dissenting  "World,"  page   275. 


322 

But  you  expected  it  ?  I  have  said  that  "  I  knew  nothing  about 
the  removal." 

Did  you  not  receive  an  intimation  from  the  editor  of  the  Year 
Book  of  a  new  rule  according  to  which  the  list  which  you  were  about 
to  return  for  1869,  of  ministers  in  your  district,  would  determine 
what  ministers,  hitherto  recognised,  should  continue  to  be  on  the 
list  or  omitted  from  it,  according  as  their  names  were  or  were  not 
returned  by  you  for  insertion  ?  Mr.  Grant  knows  that  I  wrote  to 
him  Jan.  18,  1869,  saying  :  "As  to  the  new  rule  made  by  the 
Congregational  Union  Committee,  and  printed  in  the  Year  Book  for 
1869,  I  never  heard  of  its  existence  until  I  read  it  in  your 
letters  of  the  15th  and  16th  inst.,  and  have  never  been  told  that  such 
a  rule  was  likely  to  be  made." 

Had  you  no  correspondence  with  the  editor  of  the  Year  Book, 
on  the  "new  rule"  and  its  application  by  you  to  Mr.  Grant's 
name  ?  I  wrote  to  the  plaintiff  Jan.  13,  1869,  as  already  declared, 
saying,  "I  know  nothing  about  the  removal  of  your  name."  "I 
was  not  aware  that  it  had  been  removed  until  informed  by  your 
letter." 

But  did  you  correspond  previously  with  the  editor  of  the  Year 
Book  on  the  question  of  omitting  this  name  ?  "  Can  words  go 
further"  than  my  express  declaration  ? 

That  I  think  was  the  celebrated  phrase  by  which  a  political  leader 
completed  his  disavowal  of  intending  to  perpetuate  the  endowment 
of  Maynooth.     Do  you  know  the  answer  to  that  question  ?     No. 

Well,  it  was,  that  "  words  can  go  no  further,  but  you  can." 

Did  you,  or  did  you  not,  correspond  with  the  editor  of  the  Year 
Book  respecting  the  omission  of  Mr.  Grant's  name  from  the  Year 
Book  of  1869,  when  the  editor  was  inquiring  about  the  list  ?  I 
wrote  distinctly  to  Mr.  Grant,  saying: — "I  did  not  intend," nor  do 
I  "  still  desire,  that  any  act  or  omission  on  my  part  should  be  the 
ground  for  a  defence  of  the  Committee's  action  in  regard  to  you." 
"  The  idea  of  removing,  or  causing  your  name  to  be  removed,  never 
entered  my  mind  or  *  desire '  at  all."* 

Do  you  mean  to  shelter  yourself  under  the  word  "  removal,"  and 
to  adopt  the  new  doctrine  of  the  "  preliminary  meeting,"  May  10th, 
that  there  had  been  " no  removal "  but  only  "non-insertion,"  in 
the  list  for  1869  ?  I  answer  for  my  own  words.  Yes ;  but 
when  you  denied  any  share  in  "  the  removal "  of  his  name, 
did  you  mean  its  "  non-insertion?"     I  meant  what  I  said. 

*    "  Dissenting  World,"  p.  276. 


323 

In  the  sense  that  was  understood  by  your  correspondent  and 
the  public,  or  in  the  concealed,  and  subsequently  revealed,  sense 
of  contributing  not  to  its  "removal,"  but  only  to  its  "  non-inser- 
tion /"     My  words  will  bear  a  fair  interpretation. 

Will  you  tell  us  what  that  interpretation  is  ?  The  words  speak 
for  themselves. 

Then  did  you  mean  that  you  did  nothing  nor  omitted  anything 
to  cause  its  "  non-insertion,"  and  that  the  idea  of  its  "  non-inser- 
tion," which  you  know  was  all  he  could  mean  by  "  removal," 
"never  entered  your  mind  or  desire  at  all  ?"     No  answer. 

Were  you  not  aware  that  by  a  "  new  rule,"  your  omission  of  the 
name  in  your  return  would  cause  its  omission  from  the  Year  Book  ? 
I  have  already  said  "  I  never  heard  of  its  existence  till  I  read  of  it 
in  Mr.  Grant's  letters." 

Are  you  quite  sure  that  you  had  not  heard  of  it  ?  "I  ought, 
perhaps,  in  my  second  letter  to  have  mentioned  the  possibility  of 
some  notice  having  been  sent  me  by  printed  circular  of  the  adoption 
of  the  new  regulations  contained  in  the  1869  Year  Book.  This 
possibility  did  not  occur  to  me  when  writing,  as  IJiave  no  recollection 
of  any  information  being  sent  to  me.  And  this  does  not  affect 
my  statement."* 

Then  why  did  you  advance  it  ?  I  do  not  understand  your 
question. 

Excuse  me  ;  I  wish  to  be  quite  clear  ;  you  made  a  very  positive 
statement,  that  you  knew  nothing  of  the  new  regulation  as  to  the 
use  to  be  made  of  your  returns,  and  then  you  explain  what  does 
"  not  affect  your  statement."  Then  why  did  you  give  the  explana- 
tion ?  Did  you  think  your  statement  was  too  broad,  or  had  you 
been  reminded  by  Mr.  Ashton,  in  consequence  of  the  plaintiff's 
inquiry  of  him,  whether  he  sent  you  word  of  the  new  effect  of  your 
returns  ?     I  do  not  understand. 

Well,  on  the  18th  of  January  you  wrote,  saying,  that  you  had 
never  heard  of  the  new  regulation.  On  the  receipt  of  that  letter  the 
plaintiff  wrote  to  the  editor,  Mr.  Ashton,  inquiring  if  he  had  "  given 
the  local  secretaries  clearly  to  understand  that  their  omission  to 
send  the  address  of  any  minister  would  involve  the  removal  of  his 
name  from  the  alphabetical  list  of  ministers  in  England?"  The 
editor  did  not  answer  the  plaintiff.  May  he  not  have  reminded 
you  that  he  did  send  you  notice  ?  and  would  not  this  account  for 
your  return  to  the  subject  in  your  third  letter,  in  which  you  make 

•  "  Dissenting  World,"  p.  279. 


324 

provision  for  the  "  possibility  "  of  having  had  such  a  notice  as  you 
denied  having  had  ?  I  distinctly  say,  then,  in  my  third  letter,  that 
"  I  have  no  recollection  of  any  information  being  sent  to  me." 

But  had  you  not  been  reminded  by  the  editor  ?  I  do  not 
remember. 

You  still  persist  that  you  never  heard  of  the  "  new  regulation  ?" 
I  do  not  deny  "  the  possibility  of  a  printed  circular"  having  been 
received. 

The  question  was  not  as  to  the  "  possibility"  of  such  a  circum- 
stance, but  as  to  its  actuality.     I  do  not  remember. 

You  say  you  "  had  never  heard  of"  the  "  new  regulation  ;"  do 
you  read  the  Nonconformist  or  the  English  Independent  ?  Some- 
times. 

Well,  did  you  notice  this  statement  on  a  matter  in  which  you 
figured  somewhat,  and  in  which  you  were  particularly  concerned  ? 
It  is  quoted  by  the  Nonconformist,  Nov.  11, 1868,  from  the  English 
Independent,  and  so  appeared  in  both  papers — "  The  Congrega- 
tional  Yeae  Book.  An  entirely  new  plan  has  been  determined  for 
arranging  the  list  of  Congregational  Ministers  in  the  Year  Book." 
"  This  will  believe  the  editor  from  all  responsibility."  Did 
you  see  this  striking  paragraph  ?     I  do  not  remember. 

Nobody  ever  mentioned  the  "new  rule"  to  you  in  any  shape  ? 
I  told  Mr.  Grant,  Jan.  18,  1869 — "  I  have  never  been  told  that 
such  a  rule  was  likely  to  be  made."* 

Were  you  told  that  it  had  been  made  ?    I  have  no  recollection. 

Did  you  return  the  plaintiff's  name  for  insertion  in  the  Year  Book 
for  1869?  I  told  him  that  in  the  preparation  of  the  list  for  the 
West  Fading  Register . 

I  am  not  speaking  of  that.  I  observe  in  your  letter  that  you 
make  a  long  complicated  foreign  statement  about  your  preparation 
of  a  list  for  that  local  book,  I  am  speaking  of  the  general  Year 
Book.  Did  you  return  his  name  for  insertion  in  that  book?  In  the 
letter  you  refer  to,  I  said  to  Mr.  Grant — "  Later  in  the  year  1868, 
in  November,  I  think — I  returned  your  name  to  the  editor  of  the 
Year  Book.  In  the  usual  schedule  furnished  by  him  I  wrote  your 
name  as  having  resigned  your  church,  as  living  in  the  district,  but 
as  not  being  a  member  of  the  County  Association." 

Did  you  intend  this  non-membership  of  the  County  Association  as 
a  reason  why  the  editor  of  the  Year  Book  should  omit  the  plaintiff's 
name  from  the  alphabetical  list  of  Congregational  Ministers  ?  [After 
a  pause] — No. 

"  Dissenting  World,"  p.  276. 


325 

You  are  sure  ?  Yes  ;  and  on  looking  at  that  letter  I  see  by  the 
very  next  sentence  that  I  could  not  be  inferred  to  mean  that,  for  I 
said: — "WHY  your  name  nowhere  appears  in  the  Year  Book,  I 
have  already  said,  I  know  not." 

I  was  about  to  draw  your  attention  to  that  statement :  will  you 
now  tell  me  whether  you  did  not  yourself  justify  the  omission  of 
that  name  on  the  ground  of  the  plaintiffs  not  being  a  member  of  your 
local  Sheffield  club,  as  a  branch  of  the  West  Riding  Union  ?  I  do 
not  remember. 

Allow  me  to  aid  you:  it  was  in  the  "  preliminary  meeting,"  a 
rather  large  assembly,  at  the  City  Terminus  Hotel,  Cannon-street, 
May  10,  1869  :  do  you  remember  now  ?  There  was  no  reporter  at 
that  meeting. 

You  are  mistaken  ;  besides,  there  were  witnesses  there  ;  and  I 
am  asking  you  as  a  witness,  did  you  not  publicly  assert  there,  that 
the  plaintiff  had  failed  to  answer  your  applications  about  his  joining 
the  County  Association  ?     Yes. 

Was  not  that  adduced  to  justify  your  not  returning  his  name  for 
insertion  in  the  Year  Book  ?     No  answer. 

Did  not  your  colleague,  the  Rev.  Hughes  Morgan,  repeat  your 
excuse  in  the  Assembly  next  day  ?     No  answer. 

There  was  a  report  of  that  meeting,  was  there  not  ?   Yes,  several. 

Well,  did  Mr.  Morgan  in  that  Assembly,  repeat  the  excuse  wThich 
you  attempted  in  the  preliminary  meeting  ?     Yes. 

Then  he  justified  the  omission  on  the  ground  of  the  plaintin's  not 
being  a  member  of  the  local  union  ?     Yes. 

And  you  had  done  the  same  the  night  before,  and  permitted  it  to 
be  repeated  without  contradicting  it  ?  I  was  not  bound  to  contra- 
dict it. 

But  you  did  not  believe  it  ?  You  allowed  the  Assembly  to  be  de- 
ceived, and  permitted  Mr.  Dyer  to  refer  to  your  tale  about  the 
County  Association,  as  justifying  the  omission  of  Mr.  Grants'  name 
from  the  Year  Book,  and  so  to  mislead  the  general  Assembly, 
contrary  to  plaisr-  ijacts  within  your  own  knowledge  ? — You  per- 
mitted all  this  by  your  silence  ?     I  was  not  bound  to  correct  them. 

You  did  not  believe  that  the  use  made  of  your  statement  about  the 
County  Association  was  any  reason  for  the  omission  of  the  name 
from  the  Year  Book  ?     I  do  not  admit  that. 

Do  you  deny  it  ?     No  answer. 

Have  you  not  said  that  you  could  not  be  inferred  to  mean,  by 
his  "  not  being  a  member  of  the  County  Association,"  that  he  was 
therefore  not  to  be  retained  on  the  list  of  Congregational  Ministers  ? 


326 

Yes  ;  for  I  declared  alongside  the  statement  that  he  was  not  a  mem- 
ber of  the  County  Association — "  WHY  your  name  nowhere  appears 
in  the  Year  Book,  I  have  already  said,  I  know  not." 

Then  the  excuse  which  you  made  for  its  non-appearance,  and 
which  you  caused  others  to  repeat  and  deceive  the  Assembly  by 
it,  was  not  true  ?     No  answer. 

Was  it  true  that  "  the  idea  of  removing,  or  of  in  any  way  causing 
the  removal  of  his  name  from  the  list,  never  entered  your  mind  or 
desire  at  all  ?"  I  have  said  it  emphatically  in  my  letters  to  the 
plaintiff. 

Then  you  were  entirely  ignorant  of  the  omission  of  the  name  and 
of  the  reason  "  why  "  it  was  omitted  ?     I  have  said  so. 

Yet  you  justified  its  non-insertion,  on  the  ground  that  he  was  not 
a  member  of  your  local  association  and  had  not  answered  your 
circulars  inviting  him  to  join  it  ?  I  have  shown  that  it  was 
impossible  that  I  could  regard  that  as  a  reason,  since,  while 
mentioning  that  circumstance  to  him,  I  declare  :  "  Why  your  name 
nowhere  appears  in  the  Year  Book  I  know  not." 

True ;  nevertheless,  in  the  preliminary  meeting  you  gave  this  as 
the  reason  "why" — which  you  did  not  know,  and  which,  as  you 
properly  observe,  it  was  impossible  you  could  think  to  be  the  reason  ? 
I  could  not  think  so  ivhile  writing  that  letter  to  Mr.  Grant. 

Certainly  not.  Then  you  struck  out  this  reason  afterwards  ?  No 
answer. 

Now,  besides  inventing  a  reason  afterwards,  for  May  10,  of 
which  in  your  letter  of  January  17th  you  declare  and  demonstrate 
your  ignorance,  had  you  not  already,  before  writing  that  letter, 
stated  "  why"  his  "  name  "  should  "  nowhere  appear  in  the  Year 
Book  ?"     How  could  I,  if  I  did  "  not  know  why  ?" 

Pray  do  not  ask  me  how  you  could  do  what  we  know  you  did  do.. 
Is  it  not  true  that  before  the  thing  was  done  you  gave  a  reason  to 
justify  it,  and  after  it  was  done  you  were  ignorant  that  it  had 
happened,  and  knew  not  the  reason  "  why,"  but  could  state  in  the 
"preliminary  meeting,"  in  May,  that  very  reason  which  you  did 
not  know  in  January,  but  had  given  "  in  November,  I  think,"  of  the 
previous  year  ?  I  do  not  know  "why"  you  ask  these  suggestive 
and  indefinite  questions. 

Well,  did  Alderman  Bantock,  of  Wolverhampton,  give  out 
publicly  that  you  omitted  to  return  the  name,  and  that  when  asked 
the  reason  "  why,"  you  gave  a  reason  that  satisfied  the  Year  Book 
authorities,  and  so  caused  the  name  to  "  appear  nowhere"  in  that 
book  ?     I  do  not  read  the  Wolverhampton  papers. 


827 

Did  you  receive  the  following  specific  inquiry  on  the  subject : — 

"  Dear  Sir, — I  am  sorry  to  inform  you  that,  notwithstanding 
your  positive  assertion,  for  which  I  gave  you  credit,  that  you  did 
return  my  name  for  the  Year  Book,  and  that  you  'knew  nothing 
till  informed  by  me  of  its  omission  ;  that  you  knew  of  no  rule 
giving  you  any  power  in  the  matter,  and  did  not  do  nor  omit  any- 
thing to  produce  the  result ;  and  that  you  did  not  intend  nor  desire 
that  anything  you  did  or  omitted  should  be  any  ground  for  the 
Committee's  action'  in  relation  to  me  [pages  273-283,  "  Dissenting 
World  "]  ;  still  the  onus  in  this  case,  as  in  that  of  the  late  Rev. 
Isaac  Yaughan,  is  thrown  on  you  by  the  secretary  of  the  Union. 

"As  to  my  case,  and  your  share  in  it,  the  entire  responsibility 
is  attributed  to  your  direct  intervention  and  act  by  Mr.  Alderman 
Bantock,  of  Wolverhampton,  as  reported  in  the  Wolverhampton 
Chronicle  of  April  21,  in  an  account  of  a  meeting  over  which  that 
gentleman  presided. 

"  He  refers  to  Dr.  George  Smith,  secretary  of  the  Congregational 
Union,  as  his  authority  for  ascribing  the  whole  transaction  to  you 
in  these  words  : — '  What  were  the  facts  ?  He  had  taken  advantage 
of  the  opportunity — for  it  so  happened  that  the  secretary  of  the 
Congregational  Union  [Dr.  George  Smith]  was  preaching  sermons 
on  the  previous  day  on  behalf  of  Queen- street  Chapel  Sunday 
Schools — to  ask  him  [Dr.  Smith]  what  were  the  real  facts  in 
connection  with  the  Rev.  Brewtin  Grant.'  Among  the  facts  he 
affirmed  two  things: — First,  that  my  'name  was  omitted'  "last 
year  in  the  list  of  ministers  sent  up  by  the  secretary  of  the  district, 
Dr.  Falding.'  Second,  that  '  on  the  secretary  of  the  Union  writing 
to  Dr.  Falding,  and  being  satisfied  with  Dr.  Falding's  explanation, 
[viz.,  of  his  omission  of  the  name  from  his  district  returns]  ths: 
omission  of  the  Rev.  Brewin  Grant's  name  from  the  Year  Booy 
followed  as  a  matter  of  course.'  This  want  of  harmony  among 
yourselves  is  as  '  disedifying*  as  the  conduct  of  the  Committee  is 
in  hanging  me  on  a  technicality  made  for  the  occasion.  But  though 
they  placed  my  professional  life  in  your  private  hands  to  make  or 
mar  me,  without  the  trouble  of  a  reason,  or  the  disagreeable  neces- 
sity of  giving  one,  except  to  the  Committee's  secretary's  private 
ear,  still  you  did  return  my  name,  though  Dr.  Smith  writes  that 
if  you  had  it  would  have  appeared  in  the  Year  Book  ;  and 
though  Alderman  Bantock  says  you  omitted  it,  and  so  far  justified 
your  omission  as  to  relieve  the  conscience  of  the  secretary  of  the 
Union,  in  doing  what  they  had  better  undo,  and  that  speedily. 

"Yours  faithfully,  "  Brewin  Grant." 


328 

You  received  that  letter  ?     I  did. 

Were  the  allegations  in  it  true  ?  I  take  no  notice  of  the  plain- 
tiff's allegations,  and  gave  him  this  answer : — 

"  Eotherham  College,  April  28,  1869. 
"Sir, — I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  27th  instant,  and  am 

"Yours  truly, 

"F.  J.  Falding." 

Were  the  contents  "the  plaintiff's  allegations  ?"  He  sent  them 
to  me  :  I  had  only  his  word  for  it. 

Will  Alderman  Bantock's  word  do  ?  He  says  here  in  this  letter, 
that  "the  Rev.  Dr.  George  Smith  was  his  "authority"  for  the 
statements  made  on  the  occasion.  Or  will  this  letter  from  Dr.  Smith, 
in  reply  to  the  plaintiff's  inquiry,  suit  you  ? — 

•'  Congregational  Union,  April  27th,  1869. 

"Dear  Sir, — A  mistake  might  naturally  enough  arise  in  the  im- 
pression received  as  to  what  I  said  to  Mr.  Alderman  Bantock,  and  I 
hasten  to  correct  it.  I  did  not  say  that  I  had  written  to  Dr.  Falding, 
but  that  Mr.  Ashton  [the  editor  of  the  Year  Book]  had,  as  well  as 
to  Mr.  Morgan,  [secretary  for  the  West  Riding]  and  that  on  the 
ground  of  your  name  not  being  locally  returned  it  was  omitted  from 
the  Year  Book.  I  have  shewn  your  note  to  Mr.  Ashton,  and  he 
says  I  am  correct. 

"  Yours  faithfully, 

"  Rev.  B.  Grant,  B.A."  "  G.  Smith." 

Do  you  admit  this  letter,  or  shall  we  recall  Dr.  Smith  ?  It  is 
evidently  his  handwriting. 

Then,  in  reply  to  the  inquiry  whether  Dr.  Smith  had  said  that 
you  omitted  to  return  this  name,  and  that  he  wrote  for  your  reason 
and  received  one,  which  was  satisfactory,  and  caused  its  omission 
from  the  Year  Book,  Dr.  Smith,  hastening  to  correct  any  wrong 
impression,  corrects  only  this — that  it  was  not  he,  but  Mr.  Ashton, 
who  inquired  your  reason,  and  was  satisfied  with  it,  "and  conse- 
quently the  name  was  omitted,  as  a  matter  of  course,  from  the 
Year  Book?'''     So  you  say. 

No ;  I  do  not  say  it,  I  ask  it.     Do  you  deny  it  ?      No  answer. 

Then  the  name  was  not  "  returned  "  by  you,  and  "  you  did  know 
why  it  nowhere  appeared,"  and  "  the  idea  and  desire  for  its 
removal "  did  "  enter  your  mind  at  all,"  and  3Tou  knew  all  about 
it,  and  did  "  in  any  way  cause  its  removal  ?"  I  have  answered  to 
the  best  of  my  ability. 


329 

Then  are  we  to  conclude  that  you  did  cause  "  the  removal "  of 
the  name  ?  There  was  no  "removal;"  it  was  only  not  inserted 
in  this  year's  list,  so  could  not,  in  strict  propriety  of  words,  be  said 
to  be  removed  "  from  that  list  "  on  which  it  never  appeared. 

Had  you  this  meaning  in  your  mind  when  you  so  positively- 
denied  all  knowledge  of  or  share  in  its  "  removal,"  in  this  foreign 
sense  ?  I  am  responsible  only  for  my  words,  and  not  for  your 
interpretation. 

And  that  is  your  best  answer  ?     It  is  sufficient. 

Did  you  not  meet  your  constituents  of  the  Sheffield  branch  of  the 
West  Riding  Union  to  clear  yourself,  through  them,  of  any  share  in 
this  ejection  ?  There  was  a  meeting  held  in  Nether  Chapel,  Shef- 
field, at  which  the  following  resolution  was  passed  unanimously: — 
"That  Dr.  Falding,  having  explained  to  the  meeting  how  the  list 
of  ministers  and  churches  had  been  prepared  and  furnished 
to  the  editors  of  the  West  Riding  Register  and  the  Year  Book,  to 
whom  he  had  communicated  the  names  of  all  the  ministers  and 
churches,  whether  they  were  in  the  Association  or  not — resolved,  that 
the  meeting  entirely  approves  what  Dr.  Falding  has  done,  and 
expresses  its  entire  confidence  in  and  sympathy  with  him."* 

Did  you  intend  by  that  to  lead  the  world  to  believe  that  you 
" communicated"  the  plaintiff's  name  as  eligible  for  insertion  in 
the  Year  Book  ?  Another  account  says  that  I  "  had  returned  to 
the  editors  of  the  West  Fading  Register  and  the  Congregational 
Year  Book  a  full  list  of  all  the  mtnsiters  resident  in  this 
district,  both  of  those  connected  with  the  society  and  of  those 
unconnected  with  it."f 

Did  you  intend  the  public  to  receive  this  in  the  sense  that  you  had 
"  returned  a  full  list  of  all  the  ministers  resident  in  the  district," 
without  marking  any  one  name  for  omission,  but  all  for  insertion  in 
the  Year  Book  ?     It  was  intended,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  words. 

"What  sense  is  that?     I  leave  others  to  judge. 

Then  you  meant  it  to  be  understood  that  you  had  not  been 
justly  charged  with  procuring  the  omission  of  the  plaintiff's  name  ? 
No  answer. 

It  was  to  justify  you  before  the  district  meeting,  and  the  neigh- 
bourhood outside,  as  not  the  procuring  cause  of  the  plaintiff's  ejec- 
tion ?     Yes. 

Then  why  did  you  not  publicly  declare  that  the  editor  of  the 
Year  Book,  and  the  entire  Congregational  Union  Committee  in 

*  "  Sheffield  Independent,"  Feb.  25,  18G9. 
t  "The  Sheffield  Daily  Telegraph,"  Feb.  24,  1869. 


330 

its  report — which  you  agreed  to — maligned  you,  by  saying  that  you 
did  not  "  reiurn  a  full  list,"  but  omitted  to  return  the  plaintiff's 
name  ?     I  have  said  distinctly  that  I  did  return  the  name. 

For  insertion  in  the  alphabetical  list  in  the  Year  Book  ?  I 
"  returned"  the  name. 

Have  you  two  senses  to  the  word  "  returned"  ?    I  do  not  say  so. 

Did  you  "return"  it  in  the  sense  in  which  the  committee  of  the 
Union  and  the  editor  of  the  Year  Book  employ  the  word  "re- 
turn" ?     It  is  enough  that  I  "  returned"  it. 

In  some  private  sense  of  your  own,  by  way  of  "  local  intelligence"  ? 
No  answer. 

Yrou  were  at  the  "  preliminary  meeting"  ?     Yes. 

Was  the  report  on  the  Year  Book  read  and  accepted  in  that 
meeting  ?     Yes. 

Did  you  object  to  it  ?     No. 

Did  you  object  to  it  when  it  was  proposed  to  the  Assembly  ?     No. 

Did  it  contain  the  truth  about  your  conduct  in  reference  to  this 
name  ?     No  answer. 

Does  not  that  report  say  : — "  No  name  has  been  omitted  from 
the  Year  Book  of  1869,"  "but  because  the  name  was  not  sent  to 
the  editor  by  any  one  competent  to  send  it"  ? — [After  a  pause] — 
Yes. 

Then  were  you  not  "  competent  to  send  it"  ?     I  did  send  it. 

"  For  insertion  ?"     No  answer. 

Did  you  send  it  "  for  insertion"  ?     I  "  returned"  it. 

For  "  insertion"  ?     No  answer. 

Your  silence  is  as  wise  as  it  is  instructive,  for  if  you  say  "no" 
you  contradict  yourself:  and  if  you  say  "yes"  you  contradict  the 
committee  and  yourself  too,  for  you  were  a  party  to  the  report  that 
impugns  your  letters.  Does  not  Dr.  Smith  say,  in  the  letter  you 
have  seen,  that  "on  the  ground  of  the  name  not  being  locally 
returned  it  was  omitted  from  the  Year  Booh"  ?  Yes ;  I  returned 
it  to  Mr.  Ashton. 

Well,  does  not  Dr.  Smith  say,  "  I  have  shown  your  note  to  Mr. 
Ashton,  and  he  says  I  am  correct"  ?     Yes. 

Then  both  they  and  the  Report  of  May,  and  the  Year  Book,  all 
accuse  you  of  not  returning  the  name  ?  I  could  have  "  explained" 
it  all  in  "  a  personal  interview,"  but  the  plaintiff  "  prefers  a  method 
that  can  be  most  readily  turned  to  a  one-sided  account  in  pamphlets 
and  newspapers."  * 

•  "  Dissenting  World,"  page  277. 


331 

So  you  said,  when  you  pretended  that  a  conversation  was  more 
definite  than  a  correspondence  ;  but  could  not  the  former  be  tra- 
vestied "  in  pamphlets  and  newspapers"  ?     Yes. 

"When  you,  in  a  private  meeting,  without  the  committee  of  the 
Congregational  Union,  whose  secretary  and  editor  accused  you  of 
not  returning  the  name,  led  the  Nether  chapel  meeting  into  the 
belief  and  public  statement  that  you  had  "  returned"  it,  the  meeting 
expressed  "  sympathy  with"  you  ?     Yes. 

What  for  ?  For  having  been  falsely  accused  of  not  returning  a 
name  which  I  had  returned. 

Who  accused  you  ?     The  plaintiff. 

No  ;  he  did  not  :  he  only  inquired  of  you  whether  the  accusation 
of  Dr.  Smith,  Mr.  Ashton,  and  the  committee  was  true.  They 
were  your  accusers  :  the  Year  Book  accuses  you  :  and  did  you  not 
accuse  youeself  of  this  act  ?     How  could  I  ? 

My  question  is  not  how  you  could,  but  whether  you  did — did 
you  ?     How  could  I  ? 

Did  you  ?     No. 

If  a  person  sitting  in  conclave  on  a  paper  votes  its  acceptance, 
does  he  not  endorse  its  statements  ?     He  may  overlook  some. 

Would  he  overlook  the  only  question  that  caused  the  paper  to 
be  written,  and  in  which  his  own  conduct  is  a  main  part  of  the 
discussion  ?     Perhaps  not. 

Was  not  the  Report  such  a  paper,  in  which  you  were  so  con- 
cerned, and  on  which  you  debated  ?     Yes. 

Did  you  object  to  that  part  which  said,  "  no  name  had  been 
omitted  from  the  Year  Book"  "that  had  been  sent  to  the  editor 
for  insertion  by  anyone  competent  to  send  it  ?"     No. 

Then  you  agreed  to  that  statement  ?  (After  a  pause) — I  agreed 
to  the  Report. 

And  objected  to  that  part  ?     No  answer. 

Then  did  you  not  unite  to  accuse  youeself  of  causing  the 
omission  of  that  name,  by  not  sending  it,  when  you  were  "the 
competent  person  to  send  it  ?"     No  answer. 

Why  did  you  call  a  meeting  in  Sheffield  to  justify  yourself  from 
a  charge  which  you  afterwards  joined  in  making  in  London  ?  No 
answer. 

Did  that  meeting  in  Sheffield,  when  your  weightier  brethren  sat 
on  you  and  exonerated  you  from  doing  what  in  London  you 
admitted,  justified,  and  glorified, — did  it  protest  against  the  injustice 
committed  on  the  plaintiff  by  the  omission  of  his  name,  on  the 
alleged  false  ground  that  you  had  not  returned  it  ?     No  answer. 


332 

They  "  sympathised  with  "  you  for  having  been  detected  in  the 
operation,  but  not  with  your  victim  ?     No  answer. 

It  was  to  whitewash  you,  but  not  to  relieve  him  ?     No  answer. 

You  accepted  their  "  sympathy  ?"     Yes. 

But  did  they  extend  it  to  the  person  injured  by  the  act  attributed 
to  you  ?     No  ! 

They  did  not  send  a  memorial  to  the  Congregational  Union, 
requesting  them  publicly  to  restore  a  name  that  had  been  erased  by 
the  pretence  of  an  act  of  their  official  of  which  act  they  were 
ashamed  ?     I  do  not  say  that  they  were  ashamed  of  it. 

Then  why  did  they  "  sympathise  with  "  you,  and  try  to  make  the 
world  believe  that  you,  as  their  official,  were  not  guilty  ?  No 
answer. 

If  they  believed  that  even  "  the  new  rule  "  invented  by  the 
Congregational  Union — which  was  falsely  made — was  falsely  applied, 
and  their  local  union  disgraced  by  the  supposition  that  you  had  taken 
advantage  of  it  to  the  deposition  of  a  brother,  why  did  they  not 
seek  that  brother's  restoration  ?     That  is  a  question  for  them. 

Perhaps  so ;  but  you  were  one  of  them ;  and  did  not  the  fact 
that  you  let  remain,  without  protest,  the  wrong  which  you  were 
ashamed  of  being  charged  with  committing,  show  that  in  principle 
you  were  all  guilty  of  it,  only  wished  to  avoid  the  shame  of  it  ? 
That  is  also  a  question  for  them. 

Any  more  than  for  you  ?     I  was  in  the  hands  of  the  meeting. 

Or,  were  they  in  your  hands  ?  Did  you  state  the  case  fairly  to 
them  about  your  correspondence  with  the  editor  of  the  Year  Book, 
in  which  you  satisfied  him  "why  the  name  should  nowhere 
appear?"     They  were  satisfied  with  my  explanation. 

No  doubt  they  desired  to  be,  and  perhaps  some  of  them  did  not 
suspect  any  equivocation.  Did  you  meet  again  to  sit  on  the  letter 
which  contained  the  following  ? — 

De.  Falding's  Nether  Chapel  Meeting. — The  Mystery 
Fathomed. 

to  the  editor  ot  the  sheffield  daily  telegraph. 

"  Dr.  Smith,  and  Mr.  Ashton,  the  editor  of  the  '  Year  Book,'  and 
the  Pieport  of  the  Committee,  all  affirm,  distinctly  that  my  name  ivas 
'  not  returned'  by  the  local  secretary,  and  Dr.  Falding  says 
it  was  returned  by  him.  You  would  think  that  Dr.  Falding  meant 
that  he  returned  it  for  insertion  ;  he  '  returned  it'  for  non-insertion : 
and  instead  of  giving,  in  the  sense  understood  by  you,  a  full  list  for 


333 

insertion  in  the  Year  Book,  '  both  of  those  connected  with  the 
local  association  and  those  not  connected  with  it,'  he  gave  the  latter 
as  persons  not  for  insertion  in  the  Year  Book." 

"  He  justified  this  evasive  distinction,  in  London,  on  the  ground  that 
I  had  not  answered  some  circulars  about  the  amalgamation  of  two 
local  societies,  which  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  '  Year  Book ' 
question." 

Did  any  of  you  venture  to  notice  that  ?  We  treated  it  with  silent 
contempt. 

Were  you  not  more  wise  than  contemptuous  in  your  silence  ? 
"  The  other  side  of  the  case  had  not  been  brought  before  the 
public." 

Modesty  becomes  you,  doubtless  ;  but  will  you  give  a  plain  answer  ? 
Did  you  return  the  name  as  not  returnable,  and  justify  it  by  a 
reason  that  was  not  applicable  ?     I  do  not  understand. 

You  perpetually  do  yourself  injustice  by  this  humility.  You  say 
you  returned  it  ?     Yes. 

But  you  argued  that,  not  having  qualified  by  a  paying  com- 
munion with  the  sister  churches  in  your  district,  it  was  not  to  be 
inserted  ?     I  do  not  say  so. 

But  you  argued  so  in  London,  and  set  others  on  to  do  the  same  ? 
I  am  not  responsible  for  their  words. 

Not  when  they  only  repeat  yours,  which  you  put  into  their  mouth  ? 
No  answer. 

It  was  your  argument,  and  it  was  a  false  pretext  ?  I  do  not 
say  so. 

Was  it  a  true  reason  for  the  omission  of  the  name  from  the  Year 
Book  ?     Yes. 

Then  you  returned  it  as  not  returnable  ?  I  do  not  admit  that. 
No,  you  only  prove  it. 

Had  you  ever  returned  the  name  for  insertion  before  ?     Yes. 

For  some  ten  years  as  in  your  district  ?     Yes. 

Was  the  plaintiff  a  member  of  your  local  association  then  ?     No. 

Then  the  reason  was  not  applicable  ?     I  do  not  see  that. 

No  one  said  you  did  ;  but  I  think  you  do.  You  "  did  not  know 
why  his  name  nowhere  appeared  in  the  Year  Book  ?"  I  have 
said  so. 

Yet  you  gave  the  reason  ?     No  answer. 

And  a  reason  not  applicable  for  a  return  as  not  returnable  ?  No 
answer. 

You  may  return  to  college  and  study  casuistry. 

Dr.  Falding  "returns." 


334 

The  Rev.  James  Hughes  Morgan,   Secretary  of  the  West 
Riding  Congregational  Association,  examined. 

In  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Congregational  Union  you  are 
reported  as  having  said — "  When  it  was  stated  by  Mr.  Dyer  that  it 
was  entirely  Mr.  Grant's  own  fault  that  his  name  was  left  out 
of  the  Year  Book,  somebody  cried  out  '  No  ?'  I  am  here  to  say 
1  Yes,'  it  was  entirely  his  own  fault.  Mr.  Grant  was  asked  three 
times  to  unite  himself  with  the  West  Riding  Congregational  Union, 
and  he  has  never  had  the  courtesy  to  answer  one  application."* 

That  was  in  substance  your  statement  ?     Yes. 

Can  you  explain  to  us  what  connection  there  is  between  "  uniting 
himself  with  the  West  Riding  Congregational  Union,"  and  having 
his  name  in  the  list  of  ministers  in  the  Congregational  Year  Book  ? 
A  pause — another  pause — and  then  another. 

Shall  I  have  to  "  ask  "  you  "  three  times  "  before  you  have  "  the 
courtesy  to  answer?"     A  pause. 

Now,  Sir,  for  the  third  time — what  connection  is  there  between 
these  two  things  ?     A  pause. 

Did  you  not  receive  great  applause  in  the  Union  for  your 
observation,  mingled  with  cries  of  "  Shame  !"  at  the  victim  whom 
you  so  clearly  impaled  ?  Yes  ;  and  really  the  matter  seemed  so 
very  plain  to  us  all  then — and  I  think  my  observation  quite  carried 
the  meeting. 

No  doubt.  But  where  did  it  carry  the  meeting  to  ?  I  am  afraid 
to  an  unsatisfactory  conclusion. 

Certainly,  if  it  followed  your  premises  ;  but  are  all  the  leaders  of 
Congregationalism  as  ignorant  of  its  principles  and  usages  as  you 
seem  to  be  ?  Judging  from  the  way  in  which  the  "  Preliminary 
Meeting  "  received  Mr.  Grant's  statements  about  the  relation  of  the 
alphabetical  list  of  ministers  to  the  list  of  members  of  the  Union, 
and  of  some  associations,  I  am  afraid  that  many  are  in  my  condition. 

Well,  we  may  leave  that  meeting  for  the  present,  and  return  to 
your  application  to  the  plaintiff  "to  unite  himself,"  as  you  call  it, 
"  with  the  West  Riding  Union  :"  you  considered  him  eliyible  for 
that  fellowship  '?     Quite  so. 

Do  you  think  that  persons,  as  a  general  principle,  are  bound  to 
answer  circulars  ?     A  pause. 

Well,  are  you  sure  that  he  "never  had  the  courtesy  to  answer  the 
application"  ? — [A  pause.] — I  never  received  any  answer. 

*  "English  Independent,"  May  14,  18G9. 


335 

Nor  do  you  give  me  one.  Are  you  sure  that  he  never  answered  ? 
I  do  not  remember  that  he  ever  answered  to  me,  and  Dr.  Falding, 
who  is  secretary  of  the  sub-district  to  which  the  plaintiff  belongs, 
said  the  same  the  night  before. 

That  gentleman  is  not  here,  and  perhaps  would  rather  not 
"return"  at  present ;  but  are  you  aware  that  the  plaintiff  did  attend 
a  Nether  vestry  meeting,  in  reply  to  a  circular  of  your  colleague's  ? 
I  was  not  aware  of  it. 

Of  course  not.  Were  you  aware  that  the  circular,  inviting  the 
plaintiff  to  a  meeting  for  re-constructing  or  amalgamating  your  local 
societies,  had  these  words  at  the  foot — that  he  was  invited  to  attend 
"  if  a  member  ?"     No. 

Did  you  know  that  he  asked  your  colleague  in  that  meeting 
whether  he  as  secretary  did  not  know  whether  he  were  a  member 
or  not  ?     No. 

Well,  about  these  circulars  of  yours,  inviting  the  plaintiff  to  "unite" 
himself  by  a  money  bond  to  your  local  Association  ;  you  cannot  tell 
me  what  that  had  to  do  with  being  on  the  list  of  Congregational 
ministers  in  England?     No  sir,  not  for  the  life  of  me,  at  present. 

Well,  I  can  tell  you  :  it  had  nothing  to  do  ivith  it ;  and  it  requires 
charity  to  charge  your  more  astute  colleague  with  so  much 
ignorance  on  that  question  as  not  to  know  so  much  about  his  own 
denomination. 

Now  will  you  oblige  me  with  a  copy  of  your  application,  which 
you  say  was  three  times  unsuccessful  ?  Here  it  is,  sir,  in  the  West 
Riding  Congregational  Register  ;  it  wTas  addressed  to  pastors  and 
churches  "  without  the  pale  of  the  Union,"  inviting  them  to  join, 
according  "  to  the  new  laws"  which  made  it  "  imperative"  to  pay 
for  membership.  It  is  dated,  Leeds,  December  24,  1867.  It  was 
to  "  draw  attention"  of  persons  to  the  fact  of  "  not  being  in  mem- 
bership," and  "  inviting  them  to  join  the  Union"  by  paying  a  sub- 
scription. 

Exactly  ;  it  says  nothing  about  this  local  union  being  the  door  of 
admission  to  the  list  of  Congregational  ministers  ?     No. 

Was  it  not  a  curious  circular  for  people  to  receive,  December  25, 
that  is,  on  Christmas  morning  ?    Perhaps  so  I  did  not  think  of  that. 

Well,  those  who  had  not  joined  by  payment  up  to  this  time, 
December  24,  were  not  members  ?     No. 

Was  the  plaintiff  one  of  these  ?     I  believe  so. 

Don't  you  know  ?     Yes,  or  he  would  not  have  had  a  circular  sent. 

Were  there  many  at  this  time,  "  outside  the  pale  "  of  your  local 
union  ?     There  were  "  thirty  pastors  and  churches." 


336 

And  did  you  then,  in  returning  your  district  list  for  the  Congre- 
gational Year  Book,  omit  these  thirty,  and  get  them  expunged  from 
the  denomination  ?     I  do  not  quite  understand. 

Well,  the  plaintiff  was  one  of  the  non-contributors  to  your  Union  ? 
Yes. 

He  had  not  "  united  himself"  to  you  by  a  subscription  up  to  the 
end  of  1867  ?     He  never  did  give  a  subscription. 

But  his  name  was  "  returned"  for  insertion  in  the  Congregational 
Year  Book,  notwithstanding  his  non-membership  in  your  local 
society  ?     Certainly,  always. 

It  appeared  in  1868  ?     Yes. 

Then  it  was  a  new  pretence,  got  up  for  the  Year  Book  for  1869, 
that  made  you  so  eloquent  in  the  Assembly,  on  the  point  on  which 
you  were  so  dumb  here  ?     I  can  account  for  it  only  in  that  way. 

You  have  now  altered  your  plan  with  your  West  Riding  Register, 
to  print  no  names  as  ministers  who  are  not  paying  members  ?     Yes. 

Yet  you  call  it  "  Congregational  Ministers  of  the  Riding  ?"  That 
is  at  the  head  of  the  page,  but  at  the  beginning  of  the  list,  it  is 
explained — "  who  are  members  of  the  West  Riding  Cougregational 
Union  in  1869." 

So  you  recognize  in  your  book  no  ministers  who  do  not  pay  to  the 
Union,  though  living  in  the  Riding  ?     Yes. 

This  is  a  new  plan,  for  giving  the  secretaries,  who  are  the  com- 
mittees, a  good  grip  of  the  Independent  denomination  ?  I  do  not 
understand  it  so. 

Your  churches  look  at  this  list,  and  pick  their  changes  from  it, 
so  that  a  minister  who  does  not  come  in  and  pay,  is  not  advertised, 
even  if  "  moveable"  ?  That  is  not  the  object.  But  it  is  the  fact? 
Yes. 

Then  you  have  changed  the  principle  of  free  voluntary  Unions, 
which  persons  may  or  may  not  join,  into  a  compulsory  payment  on 
the  one  hand,  with  the  chance  of  patronage  on  the  other  ?  As  I 
said  before,  that  was  not  our  object. 

Perhaps  one  object  was  to  suppress  such  erratic  spirits  as  the 
plaintiff  by  changing  the  whole  polity  of  the  denomination,  and  leav- 
ing no  chance  for  Independents  to  trouble  officials  for  the  future  ? 
I  can  only  answer  as  before. 

Your  answer  is  very  good.  I  ought  to  have  said  that  everybody 
who  belongs  to  a  society  ought  to  support  it,  or  it  cannot  be 
carried  on. 

Just  so,  perhaps,  but  you  must  not  force  people  into  a  spikituai> 
trades  union,  and  "ratten"  all  that  do  not  pay  you  "  natty  money," 


337 

or  prevent  their  getting  employment  if  they  are  non-unionists. 
How  much  extra  would  the  financial  secretary  of  the  Congregational 
Union  gather  by  forcing  all  either  to  pay  five  shillings  or  leave  the 
denomination  ?  Well,  there  would  have  been  sixteen  hundred  extra 
subscriptions  in  1868,  for  England  and  Wales  only. 

Good.  But  now  you  say,  if  every  member  does  not  pay,  societies 
cannot  be  carried  on  ?     Yes. 

Is  that  true  ?     I  believe  so. 

Then  do  you  require  a  money  payment  for  church  members, 
and  enrol  afresh  every  year  only  those  who  have  paid  up  ?     No. 

But  the  same  reason  for  it  exists  ?  The  members  are  expected 
to  pay  according  to  their  means. 

Was  this  not  so  among  the  pastors  and  churches  in  your  Union  ? 
Yes ;  but  all  did  not  do  so,  and  we  wanted  money. 

Then  the  voluntary  principle,  in  the  sense  of  leaving  it  to  the 
conscience  of  the  members,  did  not  pay  ?  The  members  did  not 
pay.      The  principle  was  good  ;  the  fault  was  not  in  it. 

But  in  the  want  of  it  ?     Yes. 

So  you  set  that  principle  aside  for  one  that  would  work,  and 
enforced  a  contribution  as  a  term  of  membership  between  the 
churches  ?  Yes ;  but  it  was  still  voluntary  as  to  the  amount,  and 
as  to  whether  they  joined  at  all. 

But  if  they  did  not  join  you  would  have  a  further  impulse  to  the 
voluntary  principle,  and  the  exercise  of  spiritual  fellowship,  in  the 
power  of  the  keys,  to  lock  out  of  the  denomination  any  minister 
who  did  not  "  unite  himself"  to  you  by  a  "  money  nexus?"  I  do 
not  understand. 

You  could  put  them  on  the  black  list  by  keeping  them  off  your 
Riding  Register  and  the  Year  Book  ?     I  don't  quite  see  that. 

But  they  would  feel  it  ?  I  do  not  understand  the  drift  of  your 
questions,  nor  quite  see  their  pertinence. 

Sir,  you  sadly  underrate  your  capacity.  It  is  your  penetration 
that  produces  hesitation.  I  am  referring  now  to  "  the  dissenting 
screw,"  and  the  compactness  with  which  the  whole  body  can  be 
operated  on,  as  any  ecclesiastical  or  political  power  turns  the 
handle  of  the  secretaries,  who  are  the  committees,  and  their  repre- 
sentatives.    Is  not  this  so  ?     That  is  contrary  to  our  polity. 

Yes  :  but  not  contrary  to  your  policy.  Must  not  every  man  who 
is  ambitious  find  it  agreeable  to  be  on  good  terms  with  the  secre- 
tary, who  has  so  many  chances  of  doing  him  a  good  turn  ?  Sir,  we 
are  independents. 

Your  forefathers  were  ;  it  is  an  age  of  progress.     But  if  the  more 


338 

ambitious  need  a  lift  from  secretaries,  who  are  the  door  of  promo- 
tion and  honour,  will  not  the  weaker  brethren  find  it  advisable  to 
be  pliable  ?     I  believe  the  contrary. 

If  any  do  not  join  by  payment,  and  generally  run  in  harness,  can 
you  not  forget  to  send  their  names  to  Mr.  Ashton,  and  so  get  them 
off  the  list  of  accredited  ministers  ?  Sir,  one  would  think  you  were 
referring  to  the  Inquisition. 

That  is  another  instance  of  your  penetration.  But  you  cannot 
tell  what  joining  your  local  Union  by  a  contribution  has  to  do  with 
being  on  the  list  of  Congregational  Ministers  ?  Yes,  I  can  ;  it  has 
nothing  to  do  with  it  at  present:  but  the  secretaries  may  change 
all  that,  for  the  Union  will  endorse  all  "  irregularities." 

When  you  so  confidently  affirmed  to  the  public  assembly  in 
London  that  the  omission  of  Mr.  Grant's  name  "was  his  own  fault" 
for  not  noticing  your  circulars  on  another  subject,  was  it  a  new  idea 
learned  in  "  the  preliminary  meeting  "  of  the  night  before,  or  was 
it  the  principle  on  which  you  and  Dr.  Falding  acted  when  you 
made  your  district  returns  ?  I  really  could  not  say  when  the  idea 
of  that  reason  for  omission  first  occurred. 

But  it  was  a  new  idea  ?     I  do  not  say  that. 

Had  it  occurred  to  you  in  January,  1869  ?  I  should  suppose  so  : 
certainly,  if  it  affected  the  returns,  for  they  were  made  in  the 
latter  end  of  the  previous  year. 

Shall  you  be  at  all  surprised  if  I  refresh  your  memory,  and  show 
you  in  your  handwriting,  that  by  the  20th  of  January,  1869, 
you  could  have  no  idea  of  that  reason  which  you  so  confidently 
imposed  on  the  Assembly  ?     Perhaps  you  will  show  me  the  letter. 

Certainly.     Will  you  kindly  read  it  to  the  court  ? 

The  Rev.  James  Hughes  Morgan  read  as  follows  : — 

"  Moorville,  Leeds,  Jan.  20,  1869. 

"  Dear  Sir, — In  answer  to  your  inquiry,  I  write  to  say,  that 
accompanying  the  printed  questions,  sent  to  me  by  the  editor  of  the 
Year  Book  in  the  autumn,  there  was  an  intimation,  I  believe,  in 
the  very  icords  of  the  notice  which  appears  on  the  400th  page  of  that 
book,  and  which  you  quote  in  your  letter  of  yesterday.  Notwith- 
standing that  notice,  I,  for  several  reasons,  decline  to  be  held 
responsible  for  the  accuracy  and  completeness  of  the  list  of  the 
West  Riding  Congregational  Ministers  which  appears  in  the  Year 
Book. 

"  I  hold  myself  strictly  responsible  for  the  list  published  in  the 
West  Riding  Congregational  Register.    I  forwarded  a  copy  of  the  last 


339 

number,  in  which  you  will  find  your  name  among  the  West  Riding 
Ministers,  denoted  like  the  names  of  others  who  are  in  a  similar  posi- 
tion, as  being  without  a  pastorate,  and  not  a  member  of  our  Union. 

For  the  omission  of  your  name  from  the  last  Year  Book  I  am  not 
responsible,  and  I  consider  it  quite  possible — inasmuch  as  you  are 
not  a  member  of  the  Local  Union,  and  you  resigned  your  charge  in 
the  course  of  the  year — for  your  name  to  have  been  omitted, 
without  any  conspiracy  to  bring  that  to  pass,  especially  if  you 
neglected  to  inform  the  district  secretary,  or  the  editor  of  the 
Year  Book,  of  your  subsequent  position  and  residence. 

"  I  am,  dear  sir,  yours, 
"Rev.  B.  Grant,  B.A.  "  James  H.  Morgan." 

Then  you  did  have  a  notice  of  the  Congregational  Union  Com- 
mittee's new  rule  for  Mr.  Ashton  to  omit  from  the  Year  Book  all 
that  were  omitted  from  your  local  lists  ?     Yes. 

As  general  secretary  should  you  not  see  that  the  same  important 
notice  was  sent  to  the  sub-secretaries  of  your  West  Riding  ?  Yes, 
or  Mr.  Ashton  would  supply  them. 

Then  Dr.  Falding  would  have  one  for  his  district  ?  I  should 
think  so,  as  a  matter  of  course. 

Though  you  received  notice  of  this  "  new  rule"  of  the  Congrega- 
tional Union  Committee,  you  did  not  then  think  that  because  a  minis- 
ter was  not  in  your  local  Union  his  name  was  to  be  struck  out  of  the 
list  of  Congregational  Ministers  in  the  Year  Book  ? — A  pause. 

You  remember  your  letter  now  ?     Yes. 

Does  it  contain  any  such  hint  ?     No. 

Does  it  not  exclude  the  possibility  of  your  then  entertaining 
such  an  idea  ?     It  seems  to  do. 

In  that  letter  you  say,  that  "  invitations  to  join"  your  local  union, 
that  is  to  subscribe,  "  were  sent"  to  him  "  at  the  close  of  1867,  and 
in  February  of  that  year,"  and  you  send  him  the  West  Riding  Con- 
gregational Register  to  explain  why  he  was  not  put  down  as  a  member 
of  your  union — which  he  never  asked  to  be  nor  inquired  about.  But 
you  do  not  pretend,  nor  even  now  think  of  pretending,  that  his  non- 
reply  to  your  circulars,  and  not  "uniting  himself  to  your  West  Rid- 
ing Union,"  is  to  account  for  and  justify  the  omission  of  his  name 
from  the  list  of  Congregational  Ministers  in  the  Year  Book  ?     No. 

So  far  from  adducing  these  things  as  a  reason  for  that,  you  men- 
tion them  to  explain  why,  though  published  among  the  West  Riding 
Ministers,  he  does  not  appear  as  a  member  of  the  West  Riding 
Union  ?     Yes. 


340 

You  had  not  then  thought  of  mixing  matters,  and  substituting  a 
place  in  the  Congregational  Year  Book  for  a  place  in  your  local 
union  ?     No. 

You  then  honestly  treated  them  as  distinct  questions,  quite  inde- 
pendent of  each  other  ?     Yes. 

And  having  explained,  what  he  did  not  ask  about — which  is 
quite  a  feature  in  your  colleague,  Dr.  Falling,  which  perhaps  you 
got  b}7  contagion — you  next  try  to  find  an  explanation  of  the  omis- 
sion of  his  name  from  the  Year  Booh  t     Yes. 

You  do  not  find  it  in  the  fact  that  he  had  not  answered  your  West 
Hiding  circulars  ?     No. 

Your  tone  in  that  letter  is  not  so  insolent  as  your  subsequent 
speech  in  the  Assembly  ?     No  answer. 

You  admit  that  if  the  name  were  intentionally  omitted  it  was  "  a 
conspiracy  ?"     No  answer. 

You  give  two  alternatives,  conspiracy  and  accident,  and  you  argue 
for  the  accident  ?     Yes. 

And  you  think  it  possible  that  the  omission  was  accidental,  and 
not  by  "  any  conspiracy  to  bring  it  to  pass  ?"  I  do  not  use  the 
word  "  accidental." 

No :  but  you  suggest  how  the  accident  might  have  occurred?  Yes. 

And  do  you  think  that  possible  ?  I  must  have  thought  so  then, 
since  I  said  so. 

Was  there  any  ground  for  your  thinking  that  he  had  left  the 
district  ?     No  answer. 

If  you  had  any  doubt  could  you  not  have  inquired  ?     Yes. 

Did  you  inquire  ?     No. 

Do  you  think  he  need  "  inform  the  district  secretary,"  Dr. 
Falding,  that  he  had  not  changed  his  "  residence  ?"     No  answer. 

Your  supposition  that  the  name  might  be  omitted  by  accident 
was  an  acknowledgment  that  you  knew  of  no  reason  for  omitting  it 
by  design  ?     Yes,  certainly. 

That  design  would  have  been  a  "  conspiracy  ?"  Such  maybe 
inferred  from  my  letter. 

But  if  accidental  omission  were  possible,  at  any  rate  your 
alleging  it  as  a  defence,  so  soon  after  the  offence,  is  a  proof  that 
you  did  not  then  believe  that  "it  was  his  own  fault  ?"     Yes. 

And  your  attempting  that  excuse  was  a  proof  that  you  did  not 
then  believe  that  his  not  having  answered  your  circulars  and  joined 
your  union  was  any  valid  reason  for  omitting  his  name  from  the 
Year  Booh  ?     Yes. 

Then  the  statement  to  the  Assembly  that  you  were  "thereto 


341 

say  ■  Yes,'  it  was  his  own  fault,"  and  your  reason  for  that  state- 
ment— because  he  had  not  answered  your  circulars  nor  joined  your 
union — were  both  false  ?    I  did  not  intend  to  say  what  was  false. 

But  it  was  not  true  ?  It  was  true  he  had  not  joined  our  local 
union. 

But  that  was  not  a  true  reason  for  the  omission  of  his  name  from 
the  Year  Book?     No. 

Then  your  statement  was  false  and  your  reason  for  it  was  false  ? 
I  was  mistaken  in  both. 

But  you  were  very  confident  ?     Yes,  I  believed  it. 

At  the  meeting,  but  not  when  you  were  inquired  of  by  the 
plaintiff  at  the  proper  time  ?  I  have  already  admitted  that  my 
letter  to  him  proves  what  you  intimate. 

Through  what  process  of  growth  had  you  gone  to  attain  that 
remarkable  contradiction  of  your  written  evidence  ?  I  cannot 
explain  it. 

Do  you  regret  it  ?     Certainly. 

Then  will  you  apologise  to  the  brethren  in  Wolverhampton, 
and  tell  them  that  your  evidence,  on  which  they  voted,  was 
entirely  wrong  ?  I  do  not  expect  the  matter  to  be  brought  up 
again. 

But  is  it  not  your  duty  to  bring  it  up,  and  secure  reparation  from 
the  Assembly  for  the  injury  which  you  led  them  to  inflict  ?  I  only 
said  what  Dr.  Falding  said  the  night  before. 

Then  had  you  not  better  both  of  you  unsay  it ;  since  now  that 
you  know  it  is  false,  your  silence  would  be  the  practical  repetition 
of  untruth  ?  There  was  a  manifest  disinclination  in  the  leaders  of 
the  Assembly  in  London  to  do  anything  that  might  seem  to  bear 
the  appearance  of  an  apology. 

But  this  was  under  your  prompting  and  that  of  others,  who 
deceived  the  Assembly  ?     Not  intentionally. 

But  actually  ?     Yes. 

Then  why  not  correct  your  evidence  and  give  them  an  opportunity 
of  doing  justice  ?  The  Assembly  fully  responded  to  Mr.  Newman 
Hall,  that  rather  than  enter  upon  these  questions  we  should  be 
engaged  in  loving  and  honouring  the  Saviour. 

I  shall  come  to  Mr.  Hall  in  good  time  :  but  is  it  your  theoiy 
that  you  honour  the  Saviour  by  insulting  your  brethren  ?  They 
seemed  to  consider  that  no  individual  was  of  sufficient  importance 
to  receive  sach  personal  consideration  from  the  Assembly. 

Is  that  Mr.  Newman  Hall's  idea  of  a  sweet  season  of  sacred 
communion  and  friendship  ?     No  answer. 


342 

Have  you  never  read — "  Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  to  one  of  the  least 
of  these  my  brethren,  ye  did  it  unto  Me  ?"     Certainly. 

Then  the  superciliousness  assumed  by  the  august  manipulators 
of  that  meeting  was  scarcely  justified  by  the  consistent  sanctimo- 
niousness of  the  concluding  speaker  ?  I  have  explained  the  matter 
as  well  as  I  can. 

Shall  you  ever  again  affirm  so  confidently,  what  you  had  already 
by  letter  contradicted  so  clearly — "it  was  his  own  fault" — for  he 
neglected  "to  unite  himself  with  the  West  Riding  Union,"  and  did 
"  not  condescend  to  answer"  our  circulars  inviting  him  to  do  so? 
It  is  not  likely. 

Let  us  hope  not ;  I  have  no  more  to  ask,  you  can  go  down. 

The  Rev.  James  Hughes  Morgan  goes  down. 


SECOND  DAY'S  PEOCEEDINGS. 


The  Rev.  Alexander  Hannay,  the  Spokesman  of  the  Congre- 
gational Union  Committee,  examined,  especially  on  the 
New  Pretence  that  the  List  of  Congregational  Ministers 
is  an  entirely  new  llst  of  new  men,  or  men  newly 
accredited  annually,  whose  llcense  lasts  but  a  year. 

You  were  a  member  of  the  Committee  of  the  Congregational 
Union  for  1868-1869  ?    Yes. 

You  took  an  active  part  in  the  Year  Book  question  in  May  of 
this  year,  proposing,  explaining,  and  defending  the  committee's 
Report  on  that  subject  ?     Yes. 

In  your  third  speech  on  this  subject  you  say,  "  the  view  the 
Committee  takes  of  the  matter  is  this,  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as 
a  list  from  year  to  year.  In  considering  the  principle  of  its  con- 
struction it  is  a  new  list  every  year.'"  "  It  has  been  a  new  list  from 
year  to  year,  in  all  times,  ever  since  it  was  a  list  ?"*     Yes. 

Then  at  the  close  of  the  year  who  makes  up  the  new  lists  ?  The 
secretaries  of  the  Local  Associations,  or  the  London  Congregational 
Board,  or  five  neighbouring  ministers  on  the  London  "board"  may 
certify  men  who  are  not  on  it. 

Exactly.     But  who  certifies  them?     I  do  not  understand  you. 


343 

I  think  you  do.  Pray  try  to  answer  : — Who  certifies  your  "  five 
neighbouring  ministers"  that  have  the  privilege  of  "introducing 
names  ?"     I  do  not  understand. 

Well,  at  the  end  of  the  year  your  list  is  broken  up  ;  there  is  no 
accredited  minister  left ;  who  accredits  them  all  afresh  ?  Your 
"  question  arises  from  an  imperfect  apprehension  of  the  case."* 

So  you  told  Samuel  Mokley,  Esq.,  when  you  evaded  his  ques- 
tion ;  pray  do  not  evade  mine.  Who  certifies  the  certifiers 
when  all  are  of  the  list  and  want  new  credentials  ?  The  local 
associations  are  left  to  make  out  a  new  list. 

But  how  can  you  recognise  or  know  those  associations,  when  your 
list  of  them  and  their  members  is  to  be  an  entirely  new  one — of 
newly  certificated  preachers  ?     The  question  seems  captious. 

No  doubt.  But  now,  for  instance,  did  you  not  repudiate  the  idea 
that  a  man,  being  on  the  list  the  year  before,  had  therefore  any 
claim  to  continue  ?  What  I  said  was  in  reply  to  Mr.  Gascoyne, 
who  treated  a  place  once  acquired  on  the  list  as  a  "  vested  interest," 
which  ought  to  be  "  regarded ;"  and  that  it  would  be  "  unfair  that 
any  new  regulation  should  affect  names  already  in  the  Year 
Book." 

Exactly  ;  and  you  said — what  ?  "I  am  sure  you  will  all  agree 
with  me,  that  we  could  not  adopt  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Gascoyne." 
By  which  you  meant,  that  a  minister  having  been  on  that  list,  no 
matter  how  long,  say,  as  in  the  plaintiff's  case,  twenty-five  years, 
lie  has  thence  no  prescriptive,  presumptive,  or  vested  right  to  be 
continued  on  the  succeeding  year?  That  is  the  very  gist  of  our 
defence. 

I  hope  you  will  hold  to  that — it  is  what  you  really  mean  ?  Yes  : 
for  I  added  : — "  A  man  may  be  on  the  list  this  year — he  may  not 
lapse  into  grave  heresy,  but  he  may  become  an  unworthy  minister 
of  Christ,  whom  his  brethren  in  his  own  locality  have  no  fellowship 
with." 

True.  And  you  have  so  little  faith  in  one  another,  that  you 
annually  break  up  the  list  of  Congregational  ministers  in  England, 
Wales,  and  the  Colonies,  to  get  a  new  set  of  newly  certified  men  ? 
I  do  not  say  so. 

But  that  was  the  principle  of  your  defence  ?     I  do  not  see  that. 
You  will  not  acknowledge  it  ?     No  answer. 

Now  in  this  natural  uncertainty  about  the  theology  or  spirituality 
of  the  formerly  certified  and  accredited  ministers — who  is  the  locum 

*  Report  of  the  Congregational  Union  Meeting,  "English  Independent," 
May  14,  1869. 


344 

tenens  for  the  suspended  breath  of  Independency — who  "  sits  on" 
the  new  candidates  for  enrolment  ?  I  have  already  said — the  local 
associations. 

But  they  have  new  lists  too,  and  announce  their  members  as 
annual,  do  they  not  ?     I  am  not  aware. 

What  is  this  Book?  It  is  the  West  Riding  Congregational 
Register  for  1869. 

Eight.  How  do  you  read  on  page  107  ?  "  Alphabetical  List  of 
Congregational  Ministers,  who  are  members  of  the  West  Riding 
Congregational  Union  in  1869." 

Then  these  are  Annuals  ?     Yes. 

Who  starts  that  society  every  new  year  ?  I  suppose  the  secre- 
taries REMAIN. 

No  doubt  they  are  the  life  of  these  societies.  But  how  can  you 
tell, — having  disbanded  your  list,  on  the  faith  that  you  cannot  rely 
on  the  faithfulness  of  the  brethren,  for  above  a  year, — that  the 
secretaries  formerly  on  your  lists  may  not  be  themselves  unfaithful  ? 
No  answer. 

Well,  can  you  tell  me  who  amongst  you,  on  the  committee  of  the 
Union,  is  left  to  inquire  after  the  brethren  in  the  country  ?  The 
secretaries. 

Then  their  names  do  stand,  though  the  old  list  has  died  out  ? 
Your  question  suggests  needless  difficulties. 

No,  it  is  your  newly  invented  theory  of  an  entirely  new  list, 
independent  of  the  old  one,  that  involves  you  in  these  difficulties. 
The  old  list  is  waste  paper,  lumber ;  the  men  on  it,  for  all  you 
know,  in  your  solicitude  against  immorality  and  Neology,  may  be 
tainted  with  New  College-ism,  or  worse  ; — how  then  do  you  re-start 
this  firm  of  uncertificated  bankrupts  ?  The  plaintiff  could  not  use 
harsher  language. 

Nor  more  appropriate  ?     No  answer. 

Well,  let  us  be  more  delicate  about  facts  than  words  : — who  starts 
your  new  accredited  list  ?  I  said  in  that  meeting  : — "  Mr.  Ashton 
no  doubt  makes  use  of  the  slips  of  the  last  Year  Book,  for  clerical 
convenience,  and  sends  the  old  list  down  to  Yorkshire  or  Leices- 
tershire, and  so  forth,  and  it  is  returned,  with  such  new  names 
written  as  the  secretary  finds  it  necessary  to  write  in,  and  such  old 
names  erased  as  he  finds  it  necessary  to  erase ;  but  the  book  is  a 
new  book,  and  the  list  is  a  new  list  from  year  to  year." 

That  is  a  very  satisfactory  account  of  "  Independancy  ;"  but  if 
being  on  your  old  list  affords  no  prescriptive  or  presumptive,  or 
"  vested  right"  to  be  on  the  new  one,  why  does  this  mysterious  Mr. 


345 

Ashton,  who  survives  when  all  are  defunct, — send  the  old  list  to 
make  a  new  one  out  of?     I  said  it  was  "  for  clerical  convenience." 

You  mean,  to  save  the  trouble  of  writing  the  old  names  over 
again  ?     No  answer. 

Does  it  not  seem  as  if  out  of  all  the  names  in  the  world,  it  is  con- 
sidered probable  that  those  on  the  former  list  are  likely  to  make  up 
the  bulk  of  the  new  one  ?     Certainly. 

Then  it  is  not  so  much  a  new  list  as  the  old  one  revised?  No 
answer. 

Was  it  not  to  evade  the  charge  of  omitting  the  plaintiff's  name 
from  that  list,  that  you  invented  this  new  theory — nobody  is  omitted, 
the  list  is  a  fresh  one,  and  his  name  was  only — not  inserted  ?  No. 
It  is  not  for  the  first  time  a  new  list,  it  always  M  has  been  a  new 
list,  from  year  to  year." 

Can  you  find  such  language  in  any  Year  Book,  or  any  un- 
questioned statement  in  any  record  of  your  proceedings  ?  It  always 
has  been  so  regarded. 

I  asked  you  whether  you  could  find  any  language  of  that  sort  in 
the  Year  Book  ?     No  answer. 

Do  you  know  anything  about  this  question  ?  I  am  perfectly 
acquainted  with  the  method  of  our  procedure  as  a  Union  and  as  a 
denomination. 

Then  you  know  that  what  you  say  about  a  new  list  is  not  true  ? 
That  is  an  offensive  imputation. 

But  is  it  a  fact  ?     No  answer. 

Can  you  find  one  Year  Book  before  1869,  that  does  not  treat  the 
Alphabetical  List  of  Ministers  as  a  permanent  list  ?     No  answer. 

What  does  the  Year  Book  of  1868  say?  "  Special  Notice. — 
Ministers  are  added  to  this  list  or  omitted  from  it  on  the  authority 
of  tutors  of  colleges,  &c." 

What  do  you  read  in  1867  ?     The  same. 

What  difference  is  there  in  this  from  1866  ?  The  words — "  or 
omitted  from  "  are  inserted. 

That  was  an  unauthorised  interpolation  of  the  committee  ?  I 
do  not  say  so. 

But  the  chairman  of  the  Assembly  said  so  in  May,  1868  ? 
Possibly, 

With  or  without  that  interpolation,  the  list  is  plainly  treated  as  a 
standing  list  from  year  to  year  ?     I  do  not  say  so. 

But  it  is  so  ?     You  say  it. 

And  you  know  it  ?     No  answer. 

What  does  the  Year  Book  for  1863  say  ?     "Additions  are  made 


346 

to  this  list  from  time  to  time,  only  as  ministers  are  accredited  by 
tutors  of  colleges,  &c."     Does  that  say  it  is  "a  new  list  ?"     No. 

Is  that  said  anywhere  till  you  put  into  your  report  for  1869, 
"N.B. — These  returns  are  in  each  made  annually?'  I  do  not 
know. 

Is  not  this  "  N.B."  a  proof  of  a  change  ?  Not  necessarily.  But 
naturally  and  probably  ?     No  answer. 

Was  not  this  report  made  with  a  view  to  "  The  Dissenting 
World  ?"     No. 

Do  you  make  a  report  on  the  Year  Booh  annually  ?     No. 

How  came  you  to  make  one  this  year  ?  It  was  in  accordance 
with  a  resolution  adopted  at  Sheffield,  as  the  report  says. 

When  were  you  required  by  the  Sheffield  resolution  to  make  a 
report?     In  May  1867. 

And  you  did  not  ?     No. 

Then  instead  of  reporting,  as  required,  in  May  1867,  you  passed 
over  four  half-yearly  meetings, — what  brought  it  on  in  1869  ?  The 
plaintin's  representations  in  "  The  Dissenting  World?"  No  answer. 

But  did  that  resolution  in  Sheffield  imply  that  it  was  a  "  new  list 
from  year  to  year?"  I  have  said  that  "  the  view  the  committee 
takes  of  the  whole  matter  is  this,  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a 
list  from  year  to  year." 

I  am  not  asking  what  you  said  for  that  occasion,  but  what  the 
resolution  referred  to  said :  can  you  tell  me?  Yes: — "  that  the 
pastors,  deacons,  and  delegates  then  assembled  most  respectfully 
requested  the  committee  of  the  Union  to  consider  whether  any 
alterations  should  be  made  in  the  terms  on  which  the  names  of 
ministers  icere  inserted  in  or  omitted  from  the  Congregational  Year 
Book,  and  report  upon  the  same  at  the  next  annual  meeting." 

And  you  at  last  reported  that  there  could  be  no  "adding  to  or 
omitting  from,"  as  it  was  a  "  new  list  ?"  That  was  the  meaning  of 
our  debate  and  report. 

True  :  but  you  never  thought  of  this  wretched  evasion  till  you 
were  accused  of  "  omitting  from;"  and  then  you  invented  this  con- 
tradiction of  the  resolution,  that  there  could  be  no  "  terms  of  removal 
or  addition,"  because  there  was  nothing  to  add  to  or  omit  from  ?  No 
answer. 

In  fact,  you  made  game  of  the  resolution  ?     A  pause. 

Was  it  not  an  afterthought  to  escape  the  charge  of  secretly 
erasing  a  name,  by  an  excuse  that  made  the  Assembly  and  com- 
mittee eat  their  own  words  ?     I  have  told  you  as  well  as  I  can. 

Were  you  in  the  Assembly  in  May,  1868  ?     Yes. 


347 

Did  you  hear  Mr.  Prout,  in  seconding  the  report,  say  :  "  Thero 
are  five  methods  in  which  a  minister's  name  may  be  added  to  the 

LIST   ALREADY    IN    EXISTENCE  ?"*       No  answer. 

Can  you  think  of  any  form  of  speech,  publicly  adopted,  giving 
any  other  view,  before  you  were  driven  to  contradict  yourselves  in 
order  to  contradict  the  plaintiff  ?     No  answer. 

When  Samuel  Morley,  Esq.,  asked,  "  Why,  if  Mr.  Grant's 
name  was  reinstated,  that  should  not  be  acknowledged  in  the 
resolution" "of  the  Assembly  in  May,  1869  ?  What  did  you  reply  ? 
I  said  :  "  It  cannot  be  put  in  the  Year  Book  for  1869  ;  the  book  is 
printed,  we  cannot  issue  a  new  edition — that  course  is  out  of  the 
question."! 

Was  not  your  answer  "  out  of  the  question  ?"  The  Assembly 
did  not  think  so. 

Well,  you  were  asked :  Why  not  acknowledge  the  restoration  of 
the  name — "  why  be  afraid  or  ashamed  of  saying  it  "  in  the  resolu- 
tion then  before  the  meeting  ?     Yes. 

And  you  answered :  The  Year  Book  is  printed,  we  cannot  put  it 
in  that.     Who  said  you  could  ?     No  answer. 

You  think  that  your  "new  rule"  and  "  new  list"  required  a 
"  new  "  kind  of  logic  ?     No  answer. 

You  said  his  "  name  will  go  in  in  the  Year  Book  for  1870,  because 
he  has  qualified  within  the  last  fortnight,  by  becoming  a  member  of 
the  Congregational  Union  ?"     Yes. 

Was  that  qualification  also  "  new  ?"  It  was  just  being  proposed 
in  our  report. 

Then  you  had  made  that  "  new  "  rule  to  meet  the  case  and  creep 
out  by  promising  to  put  him  in,  after  you  knew  he  had  joined  the 
Union  ?     No  answer. 

Do  you  not  know  that  this  new  rule,  to  admit  on  the  list  of  minis- 
ters those  who  joined  the  Union,  is  also  itself  a  contradiction  or 
an  imbecility  ?     I  cannot  answer  such  a  form  of  question. 

Let  me  alter  it :  Do  you  not  know  that  it  was  trifling  with  the 
Assembly  to  allege  such  a  qualification  ?  It  was  in  the  proposal 
contained  in  the  report. 

Does  that  make  it  less  ridiculous  ?  We  have  a  rule  for  admission 
of  personal  members  to  the  Union,  and  compliance  with  that  entitles 
a  minister  to  be  on  the  Alphabetical  List. 

Will  you  state  the  rule  ?     Yes.     It  is  that  "  Ministers,  being 

*  "English  Independent"  Report,  May,  1868.    f  "English  Independent," 
May  14,  1869. 


348 

members  of  Congregational  churches  in  connection  with  the  Union,' 
"become  "  Personal  Members"  by  subscribing  five  shillings. 
But  this  is  for  "  Ministers  ?"     Yes. 
By  "  Ministers  "  you  mean  recognized  as  such  ?     Yes. 
Then  they  have  a  right  to  be  on  the  list  as  ministers  before  they 
become  "  personal  members  "  of  the  Union  ?     Yes. 

How  then  can  this  personal  membership,  which  requires  a  man  to 
be  a  recognized  minister  before  he  can  be  such  member,  give  him 
the  right  to  be  recognised  as  a  minister  ?     I  do  not  see. 

Nor  anybody  else.  Had  you  ever  made  membership  of  the  Union 
a  door  to  the  Alphabetical  List  before  ?     No  answer. 

Was  the  plaintiff  on  the  list  for  twenty-five  years  ?     Yes. 
Was  he  ever  a  "  personal  member  ?"     I  do  not  know. 
Then  up  to  this  time,  there  was  no  connection  between  being  a 
member  of  the  Union,   and  being  on  the  list  of  ministers  ?     No 
answer. 

In  1868,  how  many  ministers  were  on  the  Alphabetical  List 
who  were  not  members  of  the  Congregational  Union  ?  I  do  not 
know. 

You  have  not  read  the  Dissenting  World  ?     No  answer. 
Did  not  the  plaintiff  tell  you,  the  night  before,  that  your  Union 
in  1868  contained  only  a  third  of  the  ministers  on  the  Alphabetical 
List ; — that  sixteen  hundred  were  there,  and  not  in  your  Union  ? 
We  laughed  at  him. 

So  I  understand.  Because  you  were  ignorant  enough  to  suppose 
him  mistaken  ?     No  answer. 

You  twit  him  with  having  joined  the    union  only  a    fortnight 
before  ?     Yes.       Any  minister  being  a  member  of  a  church  in  con- 
nection with  the  Union  can  be  a  personal  member  for  five  shillings. 
True,  but  how  long  had  the  church  of  which  he  was  a  member 
been  connected  with  the  Union  ?     I  do  not  know. 

Then  why  did  you  venture  on  the  observation  ?     No  answer. 
Do  you  know  that  he  joined  the  Union  in  order  to  be  at  your 
meetings,  and  see  if  he  could  secure  a  reasonable  inquiry  into  his 
illegal  deposition  ?     No  answer. 

Was  your  remark  about  his  late  joining  the  Union,  made  to 
deceive  such  as  Dr.  Halley  with  the  absurd  inquiry — then  how 
could  he  be  on  the  list  of  Congregational  Ministers  ?  Can  you 
account  for  the  general  ignorance  of  the  leading  speakers  on  the 
commonest  facts  of  your  Congregational  polity  ? — Was  it  assumed 
for  a  purpose,  or  was  it  honest  bond-fide  ignorance  ?  We  do  not 
call  it  ignorance. 


349 

Well,  perhaps  it  was  not :  certainly  it  was  specially  required  and 
well  adapted  for  the  occasion ;  but  you  see  it  does  not  serve 
further,  and  rather  reacts  unfavourably.  Were  you  the  only  one 
that  could  keep  his  face  while  solemnly  saying  what  you  could 
not  know  ?     I  am  not  here  to  answer  that. 

Perhaps  not ;  I  almost  think  you  really  did  not  know  better  than 
you  said  ;  but  you  must  have  taken  great  pains  to  acquire  such  an 
aptness  in  not  knowing.     Is  that  a  question  ?     No. 

You  did  not  know  that  the  Committee  always  treated  the  list 
not  as  "  a  new  one  from  year  to  year,"  but  a  permanent  record  of 
honoured  brethren  ?     No.     But  you  know  now? 

You  say  so.  No  :  all  your  books  say  so  :  and  your  language  is 
as  "  new"  as  your  lists. 

That  will  do.  The  Rev.  Alexander  Hannay,  after  this  tourna- 
ment, left  the  lists. 


The  Rev.  Thomas   Binney,  examined. 

You  were  at  the  meeting  of  the  Assembly,  May  11,  1869,  and 
took  some  part  in  the  Year  Book  debate  ?     Yes. 

I  rose  "  to  put  a  question  to  the  secretary,  not  about  putting  a 
man  out,  but  about  getting  in"* 

You  mean  about  his  getting  into  your  ministry  ?  Yes,  as  on  the 
accredited  list. 

Were  you  not  aware  that  the  real  question  of  difficulty  was  as  to 
putting  out  those  who  had  long  been  in  ?  That  occasioned  the 
debate  ;  but  I  was  anxious  to  prevent  such  easily  getting  in  again 
by  a  five  shillings  subscription.  "Part  of  the  resolution  was  that 
any  man  who  qualifies  as  a  member  of  the  Uuion  is  to  have  his 
name  put  in  the  Year  Book.'" 

You  mean  in  the  Alphabetical  List  of  Congregational  Ministers  ? 
Yes.  And  I  asked  what  the  qualification  for  the  Union  was,  and 
some  one  called  out  "  five  shillings."    I  said,  then  why  not  pay  it? 

You  considered  that  a  valid  answer  ?  It  seemed  to  me  absurd 
that  a  man  should  be  disturbing  our  meeting,  clamouring  for  a  place 
which  five  shillings  would  have  bought. 

Had  he  been  asked  for  the  five  shillings  ?     I  do  not  know. 

If  you  secretly  make  a  five  shillings  qualification  and  then  "put  a 
man  out,"  as  you  mildly  term  it,  for  not  paying  what  was  never 

*  "English  Independent"  Report,  May  14,  1869. 


350 

heard  of  before,  and  was  not  demanded  of  him  then,  and  so  join  to 
ruin  his  prospects  on  your  five  shillings  plea — is  that  manly,  mag- 
nanimous and  Christian,  or  a  pitiable  snuffle  worth}7  only  of  a  trick- 
ster ?     I  am  not  used  to  be  talked  to  in  that  style. 

No,  you  have  been  flattered  too  much  :  but  will  you  answer  the 
question  ?     Enough  has  been  said  on  so  paltry  a  question. 

You  mean  that  five  shillings  is  a  paltry  question  ?     Yes. 

Suppose  you  had  to  pay  it  for  church  rates,  and  were  distrained 
upon  for  that  sum  in  an  illegal  rate,  payment  for  which  had  not 
even  been  asked  ?     This  is  not  a  church  rate  question. 

No  :  but  a  "five  shillings"  question,  which  your  party  raises, 
and  which  you  endorse  ;  and  because  they  did  not  get  five  shillings 
— the  new  price  for  a  license — you  "put  a  man  out  ?" 

My  question  distinctly  was,  "not  about  putting  a  man  out,  but 
about  getting  in."  Yes:  you  thought  he  ought  to  be  "  put  out" 
for  not  paying  a  paltry  "five  shillings,"  which  was  neither  due 
nor  asked  for,  but  you  were  afraid  of  his  "getting  in"  again  at 
the  same  price  ? 

I  said  to  the  Union  that  at  this  rate  "  your  door  is  wide  open 
indeed.'''' 

True  ;  you  did  not  object  to  the  width  of  the  door  for  "  putting 
a  man  out  "  on  a  newly  misapplied  five  shillings  rule,  of  which  he  is 
not  informed,  and  which  you  had  no  right  to  make, — for  you  can 
raise  a  tariff  for  your  Union,  but  not  "put  a  man  out"  of  the 
ministry  of  your  denomination  because  he  does  not  join  your  club. 

But  were  you  not  aware  that  the  door  you  spoke  of,  as  too 
"wide,"  is  no  door  at  all  for  a  man  to  get  in  at  ?  The  resolution 
was.  that  "  any  man  who  qualifies  as  a  member  of  the  Union," 
which  is  by  payment  of  five  shillings,  "is  to  have  his  name  on  the 
Year  Book." 

Y7ou  mean  as  a  minister,  and  that  this  is  a  wide  door  to  the 
ministry  ?     Yes,  certainly. 

Pray  is  not  that  five  shillings  rule  made  for  ministers?  I  do  not 
know. 

Then  why  did  you  get  up  in  the  meeting  ?  I  got  up  for  informa- 
tion. 

You  needed  it,  but  did  you  get  it  ?  I  was  told  by  Mr.  Ashton, 
that  the  rule  was  : — "  Any  minister  who  is  a  member  of  a  church 
in  connection  with  the  Congregational  Union  is  eligible  for  mem- 
bership." 

That  is,  for  membership  of  the  Union  ?  Yes,  and  so  for  going  on 
to  the  Year  Book  list  of  ministers. 


m 


351 

But  he  must  be  a  minister  to  start  with,  to  become  eligible  as  a 
member  of  the  Union  for  five  shillings  ?     Yes. 

Then  if  he  is  a  minister  before  he  pays  five  shillings,  how  does 
the  five  shillings  rule  "  open  a  very  wide  door  indeed" — for  those 
who  are  inside  already,  and  so  do  not  want  "  your  door  ?"  That 
was  the  way  the  thing  appeared  to  me. 

Do  you  mean  that  your  observation  in  the  meeting  implied  a  con- 
tradiction that  amounted  to  an  absurdity  ?     Xo  answer. 

You  were  in  the  Assembly,  1868  ?      Yes. 

And  when  this  matter  was  debated,  as  to  the  committee's  new 
illegal  rule  to  depose  secretly  your  weaker  brethren,  you  turned 
off  to  a  miserable  joke  on  another  subject  ?  I  criticised  the  report 
which  was  before  the  meeting. 

Yes.  When  Mr.  Prout  objected  to  the  report  putting  into  the 
power  of  certain  paid  officials  the  opportunity  of  deposing  any  minis- 
ter they  chose,  you  rose  and  said  : — "  I  think  there  was  an  expres- 
sion that  must  have  come  upon  the  minds  of  a  great  many  persons 
here  present,  who  were  present  at  Manchester,  and  I  am  afraid 
must  have  caused  them  a  great  deal  of  pain.  A  little  alteration 
would  remove  that  distress ;  and  I  am  sure  my  friend  Mr.  George 
Smith  will  attend  to  it.  He  said  it  was  a  very  great  thing  that  the 
hospitality  of  the  people  of  Manchester  was  equal  to  the  increased 
requirements  of  their  visitors.  Now  I  think  he  means  increased 
number  of  visitors.  (Laughter.)  I  was  not  at  Manchester,  but  I 
should  be  very  sorry  to  think  that  you  went  there,  all  of  you,  with  '  in- 
creased requirements.''  (Laughter.)*  This  was  your  speech  on  that 
occasion  ?  Perhaps  so  ;  it  was  a  joke,  and  was  kindly  taken,  for  the 
English  Independent  adds — "  The  Rev.  Dr.  Smith  : — '  I  am  sorry 
we  had  not  the  benefit  of  that  criticism  before  ;  but  Mr.  Binney  has 
given  the  right  meaning  to  it.  It  means  an  augmented  number,  and 
the  correction  shall  be  made.'  The  chairman  was  about  to  put  the 
resolution,  when  a  delegate  interposed  and  asked — what  were  the 
terms  of  EXCLUSION  ?" 

Exactly,  so  this  delegate  recalled  the  attention  of  the  meeting  to 
the  serious  subject  of  "causing  a  great  deal  of  pain"  and  "distress" 
by  something  more  than  your  "  sentimental  grievance"  about  "  in- 
creased requirements,"  which  you  trailed  across  the  path  of  the 
meeting  to  put  them  off  the  scent  ?     I  simply  criticised  the  report. 

"Would  it  not  have  been  more  worthy  of  your  standing  and  ability 
— knowing,  as  you  did,  the  many  sacrifices  and  troubles  connected 

*  "Dissenting  World,"  p.  228. 


352 

with  the  ministerial  vocation — to  have  thrown  the  shield  of  your 
protection  over  the  brethren,  that  to  the  difficulties  incident  to 
carrying  on  their  profession  there  may  not  be  added  this  official 
Union  tyranny  of  secretly  "  putting  the  man  out"  ?     No  answer. 

Your  wit  is  well  known  ;  but  can  it  be  any  satisfaction  to  vent  a 
poor  joke,  when  a  great  principle  affecting  the  honour  and  life- 
work  of  your  brethren  is  at  stake  ?  It  was  a  mere  sally,  and  the 
joke  was  good  enough. 

No  sir ;  it  was  as  illogical  as  your  "wide  open  door,"  for  ministers 
to  become  ministers.  Were  there  not  "  increasing  requirements" 
met  by  "  Manchester  hospitality?"  No  :  Dr.  Smith  acknowledged 
it  was  "increased  numbers." 

But  would  not  "increased  numbers"  involve  "increased 
requirements  ?  "     Certainly. 

Then  your  joke  was  as  illogical  as  it  was  ill-timed,  and  was  no 
better  than  your  "  door"  of  entrance  for  people  who  are  already 
admitted  to  the  ministry  ? 

The  Rev.  Thomas  Binney,  father  of  the  "Immortal  Fifteen" 
Protestors,  "  puts  "  himself  "  out  "  of  court  through  "  a  dor 
very  wide  open  indeed." 


The  Rev.  Thomas  Ashton,  Editor  of  the  Year  Book, 
examined. 

You  read  the  rule  in  reply  to  Mr.  Binney  ?  Yes.  He  seemed 
to  think,  that  by  admitting  to  the  Year  Book  List  members  of  the 
Congregational  Union,  we  opened  a  wide  door  for  the  Ministerial 
List.  But  I  showed  him  by  the  rule  that  they  were  ministers 
beforehand. 

Exactly.  Then  why  does  your  report  give  them  a  license  to  be 
enrolled  as  ministers,  if  that  was  their  status  before  ?  The  matter 
is  very  difficult,  and  has  given  us  a  great  deal  of  trouble. 

No  doubt.  You  had  been  striking  names  off  the  list  without  any 
rule  but  such  as  the  committee  had  made  for  you,  to  suit  diffi- 
cult circumstances  ?  No.  It  is  a  "new  list  from  year  to  year," 
as  Mr.  Hannay  said  ;  so  there  is  no  striking  off,  but  only  "  non- 
insertion." 

Then  the  terms  "adding  to,"  "omitting  from,"  "exclusion," 
"extrusion,"  "excommunication,"  "  ministerial  deposition,"  were 
expressions  of  the  ignorance  of  those  who  uttered  them  ?  Yes. 


353 

Then  you  and  your  committee  were  only  giving  expression  to 
your  combined  ignorance  when  you  proposed  that  "  the  present 
heading  of  the  Alphabetical  List  should  be  expunged,  and  the  fol- 
lowing heading  be  substituted  ?"     No  answer. 

How  can  you  "  expunge  "  a  heading  from  a  "  new  list  from  year  to 
year?"     No  answer. 

Your  new  "  heading  "  says  that  the  list  is  composed  of  the 
names  of  "Independent  Ministers  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland 
whose  names  have  been  furnished  by  the  secretaries  of  associations 
or  unions,  or  by  the  secretaries  of  the  Congregational  Board,  or  by 
five  ministers  already  on  the  list,  and  residing  in  the  neighbourhood, 
or  who  are  members  of  the  Congregational  Union  ?"     Yes. 

What  do  you  mean  by  "five  ministers  already  on  the  list?" 
That  those  on  the  list  this  year  may  recommend  others  for  the  list 
next  year. 

Exactly :  but  how  can  this  be  if  they  all  want  recommending 
over  again  ?     I  do  not  understand  it  so. 

That  is  not  the  question.  You  allege  Mr.  Hannay's  doctrine,, 
who  uttered  "  the  view  which  the  committee  takes  of  the  whole 
matter."  The  list  is  new  each  year  :  being  on  the  old  list  is  no 
claim  to  be  put  on  the  new  one.  Then  how  can  being  on  the  old 
list,  which  is  abandoned,  give  license  to  unlicensed  persons  to 
license  other  people  ?     I  do  not  understand  it. 

But  does  your  new  "heading"  mean  that  ministers,  members  of 
the  Congregational  Union,  may  recommend  somebody  else  ;  or  does 
it  mean  that  they,  the  members  of  the  Union,  are  themselves  to  be 
on  the  list  of  ministers  ?     It  means  the  latter. 

No,  it  does  not :  for  as  you  read  the  heading,  these  members  of  the 
Congregational  Union  are  a  continuance  of  the  enumeration  of  per- 
sons who  may  recommend :  is  it  not  so  ?    That  was  not  our  meaning. 

Very  likely  not :  but  is  it  not  the  meaning  of  the  new  "  head- 
ing ?"     I  cannot  say. 

Perhaps  you  got  it  up  in  a  hurry  ?   It  was  very  carefully  debated. 

But  it  is  as  ambiguous  as  your  conduct  in  this  bungling  ad  rem 
legislation,  and  your  excuses  for  it  are  equivocal  ?  That  is  the 
style  of  language  against  which  we  have  always  protested. 

And  that  is  the  style  of  evasion  which  you  have  always  practised? 
I  have  no  answer  to  such  questions. 

In  your  new  heading,  which  no  doubt  was  composed  by  old 
heads,  you    speak   of   "  five  ministers    already    on   the   list    and 

RESIDING    IN     THE    NEIGHBOURHOOD."       WHAT    NEIGHBOURHOOD     did 

you  mean  ?     I  do  not  see  the  necessity  for  that  question,  f 


354 

What  did  you  mean  by  putting:  "  N.B. — These  returns  in  each 
case  are  made  annually  ?"     What  it  says. 

Doubtless  ;  but  does  this  mean  that  it  is  a  new  plan  ?  No  ;  it 
is  the  old  plan. 

Do  you  generally  introduce  a  long  existing  plan  by  "  N.B.  ?" 
No  answer. 

What  is  the  meaning  of  "  in  each  case  ?"     Everybody  can  see  it. 

Does  it  mean  in  the  case  of  each  list  ?     No  ;  each  individual. 

Then  there  is  no  individual  on  the  old  list  that  has  from  that 
position  a  right  to  go  on  the  new  one  ?     No. 

Then  who  makes  the  new  body  of  Independent  Ministers  ?  It 
is  not  a  new  body,  but  a  "  new  list." 

Of  the  old  body  ?     No  ;  it  is  new  "  in  each  case" 

Then  what  person  has  authority  to  judge  of  the  qualifications  for 
going  on  the  new  list  ?     The  secretaries. 

But  they  are  off  as  well  ?     I  do  not  say  so. 

No  ;  but  "  in  each  case  ?"     I  do  not  see  it. 

You  all  begin  de  novo  ?     No  ;  I  am  left,  as  secretary. 

It  is  not  a  new  list  in  your  "  case  ?"     No. 

Then  not  "  in  each  case  ?"     Yes. 

How  are  we  to  understand  you  ?  I  trust  we  are  Christian  men 
seeking  to  do  our  duty. 

I  trust  you  are,  and  I  hope  .you  may  yet  be  able  to  see  what  your 
duty  is,  and  have  grace  to  perform  it  "in  each  case." 

The  Rev.  Robert  Ashton  retires,  evidently  hoping  that  the 
"  return  "  of  this  "  case  "  may  not  be  "  made  annually." 


The  Rev.  Newman  Hall,  examined. 

At  the  Annual  Assembly,  May  11,  1869,  when  the  Preliminary 
Meeting's  proposal  respecting  the  case  of  the  plaintiff's  name  being 
omitted  from  the  Congregational  Year  Book  was  considered,  you 
are  reported  to  have  said  :* — 

"Mr.  President  and  brethren  :  I  am  sure  it  must  be  a  grief  to  us 
all — (hear,  hear) — that  a  thousand  pastors  and  delegates  from  all 
parts  of  the  kingdom,  and  representatives  from  the  world,  and  the 
representatives  of  the  press,  should  be  gathered  together  here  for 
the  interests  of  Christ's  kingdom,  the  promotion  of  our  spiritual 
welfare,  the  furtherance  of  those  grand  principles  about  which  we 

*  The  "  English  Independent,"  May  14,  1869. 


355 

listened  just  now,  and  that  we  should  spend  a  moment  of  precious 
time  on  personal  squabbles  or  on  even  constitutional  matters  which 
owght  to  be  attended  to  in  committee  or  at  the  preliminary  meeting. 
(Applause.)     "With  all  respect  I  move  the  previous  question." 

Is  that  a  true  account  of  your  speech  ?     Yes. 

You  moved  the  previous  question  ?  Yes,  and  it  was  "  carried 
unanimously  and  was  followed  by  loud  and  long  continued  cheering." 

Your  "previous  question"  was  to  set  aside  the  decision  of  the 
"  preliminary  meeting  ?"     Yes. 

But  in  your  speech  you  say  that  these  are  matters  which  "  ought 
to  be  attended  to  in  the  preliminary  meeting  ?"     Yes. 

Had  they  not  been  ?     Yes. 

Then  why  did  you  say  they  "  ought"  to  have  been  ?  I  do  not 
understand  you. 

No,  but  I  understand  you :  under  pretence  of  supporting  the 
"preliminary  meeting,"  and  pointing  out  its  duty,  you  ignored  its 
labours  and  unsettled  what  it  had  endeavoured  to  settle  :  did  you 
not  ?     I  spoke  "  with  all  respect." 

Exactly  :  perhaps  you  generally  do  when  you  mean  to  act  "with- 
out respect"  to  those  persons  or  opinions  that  you  are  about  to 
abandon  ?  My  proposal  was  made  "  with  all  respect"  to  the  preli- 
minary meeting. 

By  accusing  its  members — "  delegates  from  all  parts  of  the  king- 
dom"— of  introducing  "personal  squabbles?"  It  was  the  fault  of 
the  plaintiff  that  a  "personal"  question  was  introduced. 

Is  not  that  the  fault  of  every  plaintiff  that  appears  in  any  court 
in  the  world  ?     I  do  not  see  the  relevance  of  the  inquiry. 

Well,  what  do  you  mean  by  "  a  personal  question  ?"  Is  not  every 
question  of  right  or  wrong,  as  an  actual  case,  connected  with  the 
conduct  of  persons?  It  may  be  ;  but  these  questions  "ought  to 
have  been  attended  to  in  the  preliminary  meeting." 

So  you  said  before,  and  you  knew  they  had  been,  and  spoke  as 
if  they  had  not  been  ;  and  "  with  all  respect"  to  those  whose  con- 
clusion, after  anxious  deliberations,  you  stigmatized  as  "personal 
squabbles  ?"     No  answer. 

Do  you  not  generally  make  a  personal  application  of  your  text  in 
preaching  ?     I  do  not  see  what  that  has  to  do  with  it. 

No,  but  it  is  "  personal,"  and  perhaps  if  you  had  been  one  of 
David's  courtiers,  you  would  have  told  Nathan,  when  he  said — 
"|Thou  art  i  ie  man" — that  it  was  a  "  personal  squabble  ?"  Tbat 
instance  is  foreign. 

Yes ;  but  it  was  "  personal  ?"     Certainly. 


356 

Are  there  not  many  other  "  personal"  sayings  in  that  book  ?  No 
doubt. 

Speaking  of  "  Thou  art  the  man,"  had  you  not  a  "personal" 
grudge  to  pay  the  plaintiff  for  his  analysis  of  your  curious  scornful 
hodgepodge — "  The  Kingdom  of  God  is  not  meat  and  drink  and 
verbal  statements  of  doctrine,  and  the  shibboleths  of  even  an 
Evangelical  party,  not  doubtful  statements  about  modes  of  utter- 
ance, but  righteousness  and  peace  "?*  That  had  nothing  to  do 
with  my  course. 

But  considering  the  "personal"  relations  in  which  you  stood 
doctrinally  to  the  plaintiff,  inasmuch  as  he  had  expounded,  and,  as 
the  Pall  Mall — though  defending  your  "  liberal"  theology,  acknow- 
ledges— defeated  the  attempt  of  "Messrs.  Binney,  Newman  Hall, 
and  Baldwin  Brown"  to  "  throw"  protection  by  their  "  aggis"  over 
the  theology  of  '  The  Rivulet,'  would  it  not  "  personally"  have  been 
more  honourable  and  free  from  the  taint  of  personality  if,  instead  of 
a  second  time  revenging  this  defeat  by  coming  personally  forward 
to  defeat  justice  and  revenge  your  "personal  squabble"  on  the 
plaintiff,  you  had  "  with  all  respect "  stood  back,  and  not  either 
have  exposed  yourself  to  the  charge  of  pursuing  a  "personal 
squabble"  while  protesting  against  it,  or  to  that  of  insulting  the 
preliminary  meeting  "  with  all  respect  ?"  I  did  not  come  forward 
with  any  personal  feeling. 

Of  course  not ;  it  was  all  for  the  furtherance  of  "  those  grand 
principles  "  which  you  introduced  to  cover  little  actions, — "  with  all 
respect?"     No  answer. 

Were  you  not  the  central  figure  of  "  the  Immortal  Fifteen," 
being  yourself  the  fifteenth,  "by  whose  side"  fourteen  "gladly 
placed  "  themselves,  with  Mr.  Binney,  the  father  of  them,  at  their 
head — all  under  the  pretext  of  defending  poor  Lynch,  but  in  fact  to 
defend  you  ?     That  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  present  question. 

It  explains  your  anxiety  to  consult  the  "  spiritual  welfare"  of  the 
brethren,  by  at  once  destroying  their  liberty,  and  preventing  the 
plaintiff  obtaining  even  the  shadow  of  a  redress  for  that  victimisation 
in  which  the  liberty  of  all  were  representatively  sold  to  recompense 
your  previous  defeat.  Have  you  ever  seen  this  pamphlet  "  What 
is  Negative  Theology,  and  who  are  its  Abettors  ?"  Yes  ; 
that  was  a  sequel  to  "What's  it  all  about  ?"  and  both  gave 
great  offence. 

Exactly  :    and  so  we  see  what  it's  all  about, — when  you  come  out 

•  "  Dissenting  World,"  p.  115, 


357 

against  "personal  squabbles"  to  create  one,  as  a  revenge  for  the 
exposure  of  your  insult  to  "  the  Shibboleths  of  even  an  Evangelical 
party."  But  how  do  you  explain  your  "  respect"  to  the  preliminary 
meeting  ?     That  is  plain  of  itself. 

Yes,  too  plain  :  you  said  they  "  ought  to  have  attended  "  to  the 
subject ;  did  you  mean  to  inspire  that  agitated  and  befogged 
assembly  with  the  notion  that  the  plaintiff  was  introducing  a  subject 
over  the  head  of  the  preliminary  meeting  ?     No. 

What  other  object  could  you  have  ?     My  speech  speaks  for  itself. 

True  ;  but  it  speaks  against  you,  and  may  I  not  say  that  it  was 
fitting  that  you,  who  led  and  fell  in  the  Rivulet  battle,  should  crown 
the  contradictions  of  those  who  misled  the  assembly  '?  I  uttered  no 
contradiction. 

Not  directly,  but  by  inevitable  implication  you  suggested  that 
the  Preliminary  Meeting  had  not — but  only  ought  to  have — attended 
to  the  subject,  while  you  showed  "all  respect"  to  their  recom- 
mendation. Did  you  not  know  that  you  were  in  fact  contradicting 
them  ?     No. 

Had  you  not  heard  Mr.  Haxnay  say — "  In  moving  this  resolution 
I  abstain  for  obvious  reasons  from  dealing  with  its  merits,  and  shall 
only  state  to  the  assembly  the  fact  that  the  preliminary  meeting  had 
a  protracted  and  somewhat  heated  discussion,  a  discussion  of  three 
hours  on  the  last  clause  of  this  resolution  ;  and  though  they  did 
not  put  it  upon  me  to  entreat  the  assembly  to  accept  the  resolution 
as  it  is,  seeing  that  it  was  adopted  after  three  hours'  discussion  and 
protracted  conference  with  Mr.  Grant, — adopted  by  representative 
men,  who  felt  that  they  were  making  a  certain  concession  in  the 
matter,  Mr.  Grant  accepting  it,  and,  by  the  way,  suppressing  a 
pamphlet  which  he  was  to  have  circulated  on  the  subject  this 
morning, — a  fact  which,  I  think,  ought  to  be  mentioned, — it  was 
hoped  that  this  meeting  "  would,  "  considering  all  the  circumstances, 
agree  to  pass  it.  I  have  no  right  to  assume  the  position  of  making 
an  appeal  to  my  brethren  in  this  sense,  but  I  believe  I  am  fairly 
expressing  the  feeling  of  the  meeting  last  night,  that  by  accepting 
this  resolution  we  shall  be  saving  much  valuable  time  and  our- 
selves a  great  deal  of  trouble" — that,  in  fact,  the  members 
of  the  Preliminary  Meeting  had  "  spent  "  in  the  previous  night's 
discussion  nearly  "all  their  strength,"  which  should  have  carried 
them  through  the  week  ?*  I  may  have  heard  that. 

And  your  answer  was,  "  with  all  respect,"  the  preliminary 
meeting  ought  to  have  attended  to  it  ?     I  have  already  said. 

Yes  ;  and  "  with  all  respect  "  you  have  cut  a  sorry  figure,  and  the 

*  English  Independent,  May  Uth,  1869. 


358 

"  loud  and  long  continued  cheering"  of  the  assembly  is  echoed  back 
by  "loud  and  long  continued"  jeering  of  an  unbelieving  world,  at 
the  sacred  cajolery  by  which  Independents  were  cheated  into  a 
surrender  of  honour  and  liberty. 

The  Kev.  Newman  Hall,  bowing  "with  all  respect"  to  the 
court,  retires  to  utter  "the  Shibboleth  of  even  an  Evangelical 
party." 


The  Eev.  Kobert  Macbeth,  an  Association  Secretary,  examined 
on  the  Notice  given  to  a  Victim  before  Ministerial 
Execution. 

You  said  in  the  Assembly,  in  May,  "there  has  always  been  the 
most  ample  opportunity  given  to  any  man  to  see  to  it  that  his  name 
should  be  inserted  in  the  list  from  year  to  year  ?"*     Yes. 

You  meant  that  the  plaintiff  had  warning,  and  could  have  avoided 
excommunication  by  getting  his  brethren  to  recommend  the  re- 
insertion of  his  name  ?     Yes. 

Who  gave  him  that  warning,  and  what  reason  did  they  give  to 
him  for  seeking  a  recommendation  or  re-ordination  ?  I  do  not 
know. 

Did  you  not  know  that  what  you  said  was  untrue  ?     No. 

Did  you  know  it  to  be  true  ?     I  believed  it. 

On  what  ground  ?     A  pause. 

Have  you  read  the  Rev.  Josiah  Miller's  recommendation 
in  the  English  Independent,  May  14,  1869 — "  that  in  future  the 
name  of  no  minister  be  omitted  from  the  list  in  the  Year  Book 
until  he  has  had  a  notice  from  the  editor,  that  owing  to  his 
name  not  having  been  '  returned '  to  the  editor  he  is  about  to  be 
omitted?"     I  may  have  seen  that. 

Does  it  not  contradict  your  asseveration  that  there  "  always  had 
been  most  ample  opportunity  given  to  any  man  to  see  that  his  name 
should  be  inserted  ?"     I  do  not  see  that. 

No  ;  but  if  it  had  "always"  been  the  rule  to  give  this  notice, 
why  should  Mr.  Miller  beg  to  make  that  "  practical  suggestion  ?" 
I  do  not  know. 

Does  not  the  editor  in  that  same  paper  say,  "  If  anything  further 
be  needed,  the  suggestion  of  a  correspondent  in  our  columns  to-day 
will  probably  supply  the  omission  ?"     Perhaps  so. 

Then  what  you  said  was  not  true  ?     No  answer. 

*   "  English  Independent,"  May  11,  1809. 


359 

Was  it  not  declared  afterwards,  in  that  organ,  that  the  com- 
mittee had  since  made  "  a  bye-law  "  to  gice  in  future  such  a  notice, 
and  did  not  some  one  say  that  it  should  include  the  case  of  any 
omission  from  this  present  list  ?*     No  answer. 

What  induces  you  Congregational  leaders  and  association  secre- 
taries to  make  such  assertions  about  your  rules  and  procedures 
which  the  least  inquiry  disproves  ?     No  answer. 

Your  assertion  that  "  every  man  has  always  had  most  ample  " 
notice  of  his  coming  excommunication  was  contradicted  by  the 
editor  of  the  Independent,  his  correspondent,  and  the  committee's 
new  "  bye-law  ?"     I  do  not  see  it. 

Can  you  tell  us  what  notice  your  namesake,  Macbeth,!  gave  to 
his  guest  as  a  "  most  ample  opportunity  to  see  to  it  that  his  name 
should  be  inserted  "  next  morning  in  the  list  of  those  newly  licensed 
to  live  ? 

Mr.  Macbeth,  being  reminded  of  Macduff,  who  died  without 
warning,  is  thankful  for  a  "  most  ample  opportunity  "  of  retiring 
from  the  witness  box. 


The  Kev.  Dr.  Waddixgton  examined  on  Union  Love. 

You  spoke  very  strongly  in  favour  of  affection  and  forbearance 
under  all  the  trials  of  criticism  to  which  the  Union  was  exposed, 
and  concluded  thus  :  "  However,  the  more  in  this  matter  we 
(Unionists)  may  be  threatened,  or  the  more  unkindly  treated  as  a 
body,  the  better  it  is  that  we  should  act  in  a  noble  way  to  people, 
and  overcome  evil  with  good  ?"*     Yes. 

And  yon  retired  from  that  speech  to  say  privately:    "  We  must 

CAST    HIM    OUT    AT    ANY    PRICE?"        No  answer. 

This  was  your  loving  observation,  as  a  commentary  on  the  sweet 
speech  of  forgiveness  towards  your  victim,  who  ought  to  have  died 
quickly  and  quietly,  and  saved — the  Union  ? 

Dr.  Waddixgton  forgiving  the  unkindness  of  these  questions 
"  cast  "  himself  "  out  of"  Court. 


English  Independent,"  May  27,  18C9. 
t  Shakespere. 


360 
THE    CLOSE    OF    THE   INQUIRY. 


Conversation  between  the  President  of  the  Commission  and 
Messrs.  Cossham  and  Campbell,  respectively  watching  over 
the  Interests  of  the  Unionists  and  the  Plaintiff. 

The  President,  addressing  these  two,  said  :  "We  have  power  to 
permit  any  explanation  to  be  addressed  to  the  court  by  represen- 
tatives of  the  parties  directly  concerned,  and  you  have  been  allowed 
to  suggest  any  questions  to  be  asked  the  witnesses,  with  the  court's 
approval.  All  the  main  questions  have  been  founded  on  previous 
sayings  or  doings  of  the  witnesses  themselves,  and  it  is  scarcely 
necessary  to  observe  that  the  answers,  though  coinciding  with  what 
the  witnesses  are  known  and  proved  to  have  said  elsewhere,  form  a 
painfully  conflicting  group  of  excuses  scarcely  less  satisfactory  than 
the  act  which  so  much  has  been  done  and  said  to  cover.  I  may 
refer  for  instance  to  that  huddling  up  of  new  laws  and  conditions, 
changing  the  whole  framework  of  not  only  the  Congregational  Union, 
and  its  method  of  preserving  the  list  of  Congregational  Ministers, 
but  even  the  West  Riding  Association  has  been  wholly  changed — 
all  in  the  face  of  this  difficulty  ;  which  is  a  palpable  acknowledgment 
that  the  old  orthodox  machinery  afforded  no  cover  for  "the  parti- 
cular case"  before  the  court. 

Mr.  Cossham  :  Will  your  Honour  allow  me  to  observe  that  this 
whole  matter,  which  seems  so  complicated,  lies  in  a  nutshell  ? 

The  Presdent  :  Will  you  crack  it  for  us,  brother  Cossham,  and 
show  us  the  kernel  ? 

Mr.  Cossham  :  With  permission  I  will  try.  The  fact  is — and  I 
know  this  was  stated  by  one  who  "  sits  under"  a  Professor,  and  is 
at  the  same  time  kindly  disposed  to  the  plaintiff — that  it  was 
generally  thought  he  had  left  the  denomination,  and  was  going  into 
the  Church,  and  so  his  name  was  omitted  from  the  alphabetical 
list  of  Congregational  Ministers. 

President  :  Was  there  any  ground  for  that  supposition  ? 

Mr.  Cossham  :  Well,  he  lectured  on  the  Church  side,  at  least 
against  Mr.  Gladstone's  scheme. 

President  :  But  did  not  the  Nonconformist,  the  English 
Independent,  and  the  Congregational  Union  in  its  tract  on  the 
duty  of  Dissenters,  all  declare  that  the  State  Church  principle  was 
not  involved  in  the  Irish  Church  agitation  ?:;: 

*  "  Dissenting  World,"  p.  267. 


361 

BEr.  Cossham  :  True,  they  did ;  and,  also,  they  did  not  consider 
that  Dr.  Miller  and  other  clergymen  had  become  Dissenters  by 
taking  Mr.  Gladstone's  side  ;  but  we  know  how  party  feeling  at 
times  warps  the  judgment  of  the  best  intentioned. 

President  :  You  are  aware  that  the  plaintiff  always  put  himself 
forward  as  a  Dissenter  in  his  lectures  ? 

Mr.  Cossham  :  Yes  ;  and  that  made  the  English  Independent 
declare  that  he  could  no  longer  be  considered  a  Dissenting  Minister. 

President  :  Was  not  that  the  very  element  of  the  persecution 
complained  of  ? 

Mr.  Cossham  :  I  am  only  explaining  how  they  looked  at  it,  and 
how  it  was  not  from  any  animus. 

President  :  But  was  not  that  method  of  looking  at  it  the 
expression  of  the  animus  ? 

Mr.  E.  S.  Campbell  :  Will  your  Honour  pardon  me  if  I  observe 
that  respecting  the  Congregational  Union's  tract  on  the  duty  of 
Dissenters,  it  was  said  by  the  English  Independent*  that  its  circula- 
tion would  do  good  in  any  neighbourhood  in  which  a  person  from 
Sheffield,  professing  to  be  a  Congregational  minister,  should  lecture 
on  the  subject  ?  This  showed  that  they  knew  he  had  not  gone  into 
the  Church,  and  they  accused  him  of  this — Mr.  Miall  calling  him 
"a  State  Church  lecturer,"  on  purpose  to  prejudice  Dissenters; 
and  when  they  found  he  had  not  gone  into  the  Church  they  drove 
him  out  of  Dissent — closed  the  door  of  his  profession — so  that,  if 
they  can  drive  Mm  into  the  Church,  they  will  say,  "We  knew  he 
would ;  we  said  so."  But  he  would  still  be  an  ejected  Non- 
conformist. 

The  President  :  But,  Mr.  Cossham,  you  have  a  statement  of 
seceders  to  the  Church  on  page  401  of  the  Year  Book  for  1869. 
Wras  he  included  in  those  five  ? 

Mr.  Cossham  :  I  do  not  know. 

The  President  :  Is  he  intended  by  "  To  the  Free  Church  of 
England,  1  ?" 

Mr.  Cossham  :  I  do  not  know. 

Mr.  E.  S.  Campbell  :  On  page  219  of  the  same  book  your 
Honour  will  find  a  list  of  "  removals  of  ministers,"  stating  "  name," 
"  place  left,"  and  "  place  settled  at."  In  several  instances  there  is 
a  blank  as  to  "  place  settled  at."  Now  the  plaintiff's  name  should 
have  appeared  also  in  this  list;  and  since  he  had  not  "settled" 
yet  at  any  "  place,"  his  location  should  have  been  left  blank ;  but, 

*  August  6,  1868. 


362 

while  the  book  pretends  to  account  for  "  removals,"  the  plaintiff  is 
not  referred  to. 

Peesident  :  Evidently  the  whole  matter  has  been  exceptional ; 
and  if  the  Unionists  believed  that  the  plaintiff  had  gone  into  the 
Church, —  for  which  they  had  no  reason, — they  should  have 
acknowledged  the  palpable  mistake  and  restored  the  name  honour- 
ably, instead  of  altering  all  their  rules  and  involving  themselves  in 
inextricable  contradictions.  It  is  altogether  a  painful  exhibition, 
and  you  should  advise  your  friends — Mr.  Cossham — to  retreat  clean 
out  of  their  evasions,  and  put  the  matter  in  statu  quo,  without 
adopting  the  excuses  intended  to  shield  while  only  shaming  the 
officials  and  their  abettors. 

Mr.  E.  S.  Campbell  :  Such  a  settlement  was  what  the  plaintiff 
asked  for  in  his  petition,  and  it  was  in  part  conceded  to  him,  and 
accepted  by  him,  in  the  "  Preliminary  Meeting  ;  but  those  who  had 
previous  grudges  for  "  the  Rivulet"  and  the  Godwinian  Contro- 
versy, in  which  Mr.  Newman  Hall,  Mr.  Binney,  and  others  figured, 
misled  the  public  Assembly  into  repudiating  that  settlement.  To 
secure  this  end,  they  perpetrated  those  changes  and  evasions  which 
have  excited  so  much  pain  and  surprise  in  the  court,  duriug  this 
present  enquiry. 

The  Peesident  :  But  if  they  could  give  it  all  up  and  shake 
hands  ?  If  the  next  Assembly,  finding  that  the  witnesses  who  mis- 
led them  before,  were  hopelessly  befogged,  and  have  now  been 
clarified — should  accept  the  finding  of  the  only  meeting  that  at  all 
looked  into  the  matter — would  not  that  be  the  best  course  under 
the  circumstances  ? 

Mr.  Campbell  :  But  already  the  plaintiff  has  been  greatly  injured, 
for  to  cover  their  act,  they  must  misrepresent  him,  and  the  act 
itself  was  an  "  emphatic  disownment,"  as  the  Rev.  S.  M'call  said; 
so  that  to  recover  from  it  so  as  to  secure  a  settlement,  especially 
if  the  wire-pullers  are  diligent,  would  be  difficult,  besides  the 
past  expense  and  loss  and  anxiety  to  which  the  plaintiff  has  been 
exposed. 

The  Peesident  :  Doubtless.  But  surely  a  respectable  body  of 
Christian  men  can  back  out  of  a  mistake  into  which  they  are  blindly 
led,  and  make  suitable  amends. 

Mr.  Cossham:  I  am  sure  "the  generality  of  Dissenters,"  as  the 
plaintiff  acknowledges  in  his  "  Gladstone  and  Justice  to  Ireland," 
"only  want  to  see  the  truth  in  order  to  do  justice  ;"  and  that  on 
the  whole,  however  occasionally  misled,  "they  are  a  fair  minded 
people." 


363 

The  President  :  Well  then,  since  even  when  bearing  the  brunt 
of  their  displeasure,  the  plaintiff  spoke  so  honourably  of  Dissenters 
as  a  people,  there  can  be  no  objection  to  their  justifying  his  good 
opinion.  They  had  better  take  affairs  out  of  official  management 
and  revert  to  their  position  in  and  before  1866,  as  to  the  Year  Book, 
and  abandon  all  those  new  equivocal  phrases — about  "sending"  up 
names — in  the  sense  of  to  be  inserted,  or  not  to  be  inserted ; 
"return"  as  returnable,  or  not  returnable;  "supplied"  to  the 
editor,  in  the  sense  of  "  supplied  "  originally  at  the  beginning  of 
a  man's  career,  or  supplied  "annually"  at  the  caprice  of  local 
secretaries  ;  "  non-insertion,"  to  escape  the  charge  of  "  erasion  " 
or  "removal:"  with  the  "  new  list  "  theory, — making  ministers 
annually  licensed,  and  not  like  beerhouse  keepers  by  a  good 
character  from  outsiders,  but  by  licensing  one  another  with  no  one 
left  to  do  it,  since  they  all  need  new  credentials — a  humiliation  of 
the  whole  body  of  Congregational  ministers  newly  invented  to  cover, 
by  intensifying,  the  humiliation  of  injustice  to  one  by  the  degrada- 
tion of  all. 

Perhaps  the  worst  feature  in  this  melancholy  affair  is  the  finding 
out  of  a  reason  afterwards  by  the  District  Secretar}^,  who  said 
at  the  time, — "  why  your  name  nowhere  appears  in  the  Year 
Book,  I  have  already  said,  I  know  not."  This  statement  was  not 
even  covered  by  the  evasion  of  not  being  "removed"  but  only 
"  non-inserted  :"  the  asseveration  left  no  loophole. 

Mr.  Cossham  :  I  may  perhaps  here  remind  the  court,  that  the 
District  Secretary  referred  to,  has  resigned  that  office. 

The  President  :  Then  you  have  the  less  official  difficulty  in 
backing  out  of  the  transaction,  in  which  he  took  so  prominent  a 
share. 

Mr.  Cossham  :  It  should  be  borne  in  mind,  that  the  plaintiff  had 
given  offence  by  being  a  leader  in  opposing  the  Amalgamation  of 
two  colleges,  in  one  of  which  the  former  district  secretary  is  engaged  : 
and  he  was  a  great  promoter  of  that  plan,  which  the  plaintiff  joined 
in  defeating. 

The  President  :  Your  professor  and  secretary  should  have  been 
the  more  scrupulous,  and  carefully  have  avoided  the  appearance,  of 
joining  a  present  prejudice  to  revenge  an  old  grudge. 

Mr.  E.  S.  Campbell:  Your  Honour  has  exactly  described  the 
situation  :  former  offences,  as  the  defence  of  orthodoxy,  and  opposing 
amalgamation,  prompted  some  to  encourage  and  take  advantage  of 
a  political  excitement  in  order  to  "  extinguish"  the  plaintiff. 

The  worst  part  was  played  by  the  editors  of  newspapers  : — the 


364 

English  Independent,  the  Sheffield  Independent,  edited  by  a  country 
committeeman  ;  followed  by  the  Leeds  Mercury,  under  another  com- 
mitteeman ;  the  Nonconformist,  edited  by  the  leading  liberationist ; 
and  even  the  Christian  World,  inspired  by  the  same  parties. 

The  President  :  We  are  not  now  sitting  on  "the  Press  of  the 
denomination." 

Mr.  Campbell  :  No,  your  Honour,  but  when  you  do,  there  will 
be  as  curious  disclosures  as  about  Union  officials.  Some  striking 
specimens  already  appear  in  "the  Dissenting  World:"  and  there 
are  others,  if  necessary. 

The  President  :  The  inquiry  is  closed  for  the  present :  a  report 
will  in  due  time  be  issued  by  the  Commissioners  ;  with  such  recom- 
mendations for  the  security  of  Her  Majesty's  subjects,  as  the 
threatened  encroachments  of  Free  Churchism  on  individuals  rights 
and  liberty  may  appear  to  require. 


CONCLUDING    CHAPTER, 

With  a  few  Inferences. 

Hapid  Progress  of  Independents  in  the  Abandonment  of  their 
Principles, — Ecclesiastical,  Political,  and  Theological, —  Solving 
all  Difficulties  by  holding  all  Things  in  Solution,  that  in  this 
"suspensory"  state  they  may  lead  the  "Liberal"  Thought  of 
the  Age. 

Qui  exemplo  aliis  esse  debetis,  aliorum  exemplo  peccetis  potius,  quam  alii  vestro 
recte  faciant.* — Livii,  lib.  III.,  cap.  xxi. 

Si  vacat,  et  placidi  rationem  admittitis,  edarn.+  —Juvenalis,  Sat.  I.,  21. 

Omne  animi  vitium  tanto  conspectius  in  se 
Crimen  habet  quanto  major  qui  peccat  habetur.t 

—Juvenalis,  Sat.  VIII.,  140. 

Sed  quid  opus  teneras  mordaci  radere  vero 
Auriculas  ?     Vide,  sis,  ne  majornm  tibi  forte 
Limena  frigescant.§ — Persii,  Sat.  L,  107. 

The  mission  of  the  unestablished  churches  was  to  provide  a  platform  and 
example  on  which  Christian  Truth  and  Liberty  might  be  preserved,  without  the 
machinery  of  even  Protestant  establishments  ;  instead  of  which  we  are  in  danger 
of  becoming  a  warning  rather  than  an  example,  of  which  both  philosophical 
statesmen  and  state  churchmen  are  not  uninterested  spectators.     The  former 

*  Ye  who  should  be  for  an  example  to  others,  rather  sin  by  their  example  than  lead 
them  right  by  yours. 

|-  If  you  have  leisure  and  paiience,  I  will  go  through  the  matter. 

^  Every  fault  is  so  much  the  worse  in  itself,  as  the  one  who  commits  it  is  held  in 
higher  estimation. 

§  But  what  necessity  is  thereto  wound  delicate  ears  with  biting  truth  ?  Miud  lest  you 
get  the  cold  shoulder  from  influential  persons. 


365 

will  ask  for  some  legislative  guarantees  for  personal  liberty  against  the  encroach- 
ing centralized  organizations  of  Free  Churchism  amongst  Protestants,  no  less 
than  against  the  Romish  altar  denunciations,  and  "  spiritual  influences;"  while 
the  latter  will  not  fail  to  see  that  we  have  abandoned  voluntaryism,  and  so  lost 
our  vantage  ground,  before  the  grand  attach  on  the  English  Church. 

But  the  more  serious  objections  to  our  present  position  will  arise 
from  thoughtful  Christian  people,  both  among  Churchmen  and 
Dissenters,  who  are  jealous  for  that  fundamental  Christian  truth 
which  we,  as  Dissenters,  ought  to  have  enshrined  in  the  living 
organization  of  our  churches,  but  which  we  have  betrayed,  as  we 
have  destroyed  independency  of  churches,  and  liberty  of  individual 
ministers,  by  a  network  of  technical  organization,  the  mouth  of 
which  is  opened  and  closed  by  the  Liberation  Society  in  amalgama- 
tion with  Irish  and  English  Ultramontanes. 

Speclal  attention,  with  careful  study  of  the  proofs  referred  to, 
is  requested  to  the  following 

Five  Important  Points  as  Conclusions  from  "  The  Dissenting 
World  :" — Congregational  Unionism  and  Liberationism  destroy 
real  Independency,  and  contravene  the  true  objects  of  Free 
Churchism,  in  the  following  particulars  : — 

I. — The  Abandonment  of  Voluntaryism,  as  a  principle  of 
religion  and  of  free  trade,  for  "  protection,"  and  subsidies  from 
Government  taxes  for  denominational  schools :  which  opens  the 
way  for  priestly  education,  or  small  State  Churches,  indefinitely,  out 
of  the  taxes. — "  The  Dissenting  World,"  Chapter  xxx.  We  gave 
up  the  Regium  Domini  to  keep  up  our  consistency,  and  take  State 
Taxes  for  our  religious  schools,  to  lose  it  again. 

II. — The  Abandonment  of  Christ,  as  in  any  evangelical  sense 
a  Saviour  :  in  conniving  at  the  gravest  heresy,  while  professing  to 
be  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth. — Chapters  x.,  xv. 

III. — The  Abandonment  of  Liberty  for  a  secret  irresponsible 
despotism  ;  and  the  centralization  of  voluntary  societies  into  Com- 
pulsory Spiritual  Trades-Unions. — xx.  to  xxvi. 

IV. — The  Suppression  of  Open  Inquiry  into  official  private 
tyranny,  guarding  it  by  terror  and  secresy. — xxiii.,  xxiv. 

V. — The  Employment  of  the  Press  to  suppress  Criticism  on 
the  orthodox  side. — "The  Dissenting  World,"  Chapters  xvi.  to  xix. 

That  the  reader  may  know  who  is  the  great  authority  frequently  quoted  I  give 
the  following  explanation : — Air.  Turberville,  the  presiding  genius  of  our 
order,  to  whom  the  Eev.  W.  Cuthbebtsox  at  the  autumn  meeting  of  the  Herts 
Congregational  Association,  "  asked  the  meeting  to  express  their  sense  of  the 
services  rendered  to  the  Congregational  body  by  their  representative 
Journal,  the  English  Independent,'' — observed,  "  as  to  the  high  hopes  and 
expectations   of  Congregationalists ?'    of    being   "  the  religious  leaders   of  an 


366 

imperial  race,"  as  suggested  by  Mr.  Cuthbertson,  that  it  would  be  "in- 
expressibly ridiculous  "  for  a  "  body  of  men  to  put  forth  pretensions  like 
these  in  these  days  without  securing  representation  in  the  press,  and 
having  at  least  one  journal  to  expound,  defend,  and  enforce  their  opinions." 
"  It  was  not  particularly  to  the  credit  of  any  minister  or  layman  taking  a  leading 
part  in  the  affairs  of  their  Church  to  say  that  he  did  not  see  or  read  their 
representative  paper."  Whether  he  referred  to  Dr.  Falding  "  not  having 
heard"  of  the  change  in  the  "Year  Book"  list,  which  was  put  out  in  our 
"  representative  paper,"  was  not  said;  but  Mr.  Turberville  thought  that  "  a 
little  more  loyalty  to  their  literature,  even  a  little  more  enthusiasm  in  its 
behalf,  would  do  Independents  no  harm." — English  Independent,  Sept.  30, 1869. 
He  is  our  factotum.     Yet  even  he  says: — 

"  The  great  work  of  construction  is  opening  before  us;"  "it  has  been 
noble  to  protest  against  the  wrong ;  we  ought  to  leel  it  nobler  still  to  aid  in 
building  up  the  right."  "  Of  the  part  which  Congregationalism  has  yet  to 
play  in  these  coming  days  of  mingled  hopefulness  and  trial,  we  have  yet  much 
to  say." — (English  Independent,  September  24,  1868.)  But  it  all  comes  to 
nothing  ;  for  Congregationalism  has  to  be  amalgamated,  like  the  two  papers  into 
the  English  Independent,  or  the  different  assurance  offices  into  the  "Albert." 

The  same  Independent  contains  a  recommendation  by  the  Bev.  T.  Mann,  a 
district  secretary,  that  "ordination  is  to  be  the  recognition  of  the  Associated 
Churches,"  i.e.,  county  unions,  who  are  to  examine  and  certificate  the  person 
before  he  is  permitted  to  be  ordained,  though  a  congregation  has  "called"  him, 
and  if  this  were  done,  we  are  told  "  our  ministry  would  not  be  flooded  by  so 

MANY  UNQUALIFIED  MEN." 

Besides  this  abandonment  of  Congregational  rule  in  choosing  our  ministers, 
our  churches  or  congregations  are  to  be  merged  into  a  general  body  of  all 
the  believers  in  a  town  or  neighbourhood,  as  another  form  of  amalgamation. 

For  "  the  truth  is,"  we  are  told  (July  9,  1868,)  "  that  the  theories  of  Non- 
conformity presuppose,  in  order  to  their  thoroughly  efficient  working,  the 
general  assent  and  support  of  all  the  Christians  in  the  neighbourhood;"  and 
"when  they  fail  to  obtain  that  assent  and  support  they  are  certain  to  work  at  a 
practical  disadvantage."  Hence  all  the  failure  of  our  Dissent  is  because  Church- 
men have  dissented  from  us,  as  our  oracle  intimates  : — 

"  The  New  Testament  model  of  Church  government,  in  which  each  town  and 
city  possessed  its  own  independent  Christian  society,  with  a  staff  of  rulers 
and  assistants,  and  in  which  the  whole  expense  of  its  procedure  was  sustained 
by  the  voluntary  offerings  of  the  faithful,  without  assistance  from  the  State, 
would  work  admirably  enough  in  our  time,  as  of  old,  under  similar  conditions. 
Those  conditions  are  simply  that  all  the  faithful  of  each  neighbourhood  should 
give  their  allegiance  to  the  same  sacred  society :  that  rich  and  poor,  high  and 
low,  learned  and  ignorant  alike,  who  believe  in  Christ,  should  contribute  their 
quota  of  influence,  labour,  power,  and  wealth,  to  the  same  church.  Let  this 
apostolic  model  be  adopted  in  England  to-day,  and  the  characteristic 
faults  of  '  Dissent'  would  immediately  disappear.  The  persons  of  the  highest 
culture  and  piety  would  in  such  case  immediately  assume  their  proper  position  ; 
and  there  would  be  little  room  for  complaint  of  lack  of  funds  when  all 
the  supplies,  instead  of  being  frittered  away  through  twenty  channels,  ran  into 

a  COMMON  TREASURY. 

"But  if,  through  obstinately  clinging  to  a  Ceiurch  system,  which  in  its 
leading  outlines  is  a  growth  of  post-apostolic  times,  the  Christian  part  of  the 
upper  and  more  cultured  classes  abandon  the  support  of  the  apostolic  form  of 


367 

Church  government  [which  does  not  yet  exist]  to  the  middle  and  lower  ranks, 
no  wonder  if  the  inevitable  results  of  such  an  abandonment  appear.  The  obvious 
defects  of  Nonconformity  are  the  natural  and  direct  consequence  of  the  withdraw- 
ment  of  the  more  cultured  orders  from  its  societies." 

We  have  only  to  deprive  the  clergyman  first  of  his  endowment  and  next  of 

s  supporters,  and  get  them 
nobody  Nonconforms  from  it. 

Though  what  it  is  to  be  we  cannot  say :  but  "  the  idea  that  lies  behind 
Independency  and  Congregationalism  is  the  unity  and  self-government  of  the 
Church  of  each  neighbourhood  ;  and  if  ever  a  single  town  in  Great  Britain 
should  attain  grace  sufficient  to  throw  all  its  Protestant  Christianity  into  one 
organized  society,  allowing  freedom  to  its  various  internal  elements" — the 
mihenium  would  be  insured.  This  is  the  wild  conglomeration  of  organisation  in 
which  Congregationalism  is  to  be  merged  !  It  is  only  a  clumsy  imitation  of 
the  parochial  system,  with  a  provision  for  amalgamating  all  Churches  into  one 
denomination — without  saying  which  it  is  to  be. 

"At  present,"  concludes  this  facetious  writer,  "there  is  nothing  to  be  done 
except  by  God's  blessing,  to  render  Noncomformity  as  good  a  thing  as  the 
materials  will  permit  it  to  become." 

The  whole  scheme  of  this  organ  is  to  attempt  something  new  in  which  all 
present  denominations  shall  be  absorbed.  This  is  a  poor  result  of  our  Free 
Church  experiment. 

No  doubt  the  editor  said  rightly,  of  the  Congregational  Union  Annual 
Assembly  of  May,  1869  : — "  it  was  as  good  a  Church  council  as  was  ever 
summoned  by  Bishop  or  Pope,"  (May  14,  18C9  ;)  but  unless  we  admit  his  or  its 
infallibility,  we  seem  to  have  no  coherence  or  consistency. 

The  constitution  of  the  Congregational  Union  itself  is  held  in  solution ; 
we  have  not  even  organized  that  as  our  Free  "  Church  body."  The  secretary 
of  the  South  Staffordshire  County  Union  writes  to  the  editor  of  the  English 
Independent  to  coincide  with  the  editor's  proposed  re -construction  of  that 
"  body; "  which,  he  says,  instead  of  being  formed  out  of,  and  regulated  by,  the 
county  associations,  ignores  them,  and  visits  "  the  Churches  of  a  particular 
town,"  instead  of  paying  its  "  autumnal  visits  to  the  County  Associations,"  who 
ought  to  "nominate  the  general  committee  of  the  Congregational  Union." 
(September  16,  1869.) 

In  reference  to  this  relation  of  the  Congregational  Union  to  county  associations, 
the  English  Independent,  Sept.  9,  1869,  says:  "This  is  precisely  the  difficulty 
attaching  to  our  Congregational  system.  We  wish  to  maintain  individual  liberty. 
We  want  more  corporate  life."     Which  is  employed  to  strangle  liberty. 

'*  The  problem  "  he  admits  "  is  a  difficult  and  a  delicate  one  ;  but  we  believe  it 
is  capable  of  solution.  If  it  is  to  be  solved  by  the  Congregational  Union,  that 
body  must  consent  to  vert  considerable  changes  in  its  constitution,  and 
perhaps  to  some  diminution  in  the  number  of  its  members  :  but  even  this  will  be 
preferable  to  the  present  anomalous  and  unsatisfactory  state  of  things." 
In  all  this  our  Churches  are  not  considered,  nor  the  liberty  and  honour  of  our 
ministers:  it  is  "individual  liberty  of  the  Associations,"  in  relation  to  the 
Congregational  Union,  that  is  pleaded  for.  The  denomination  is  assumed  to  be 
handed  over  to  that  fraction  of  organizers  of  disorganisation.  "  Who  can  con- 
template" inquires  this  regulator  of  Independency,  "with  any  thing  like  satisfaction 
the  present  state  of  the  denomination  with  reference  to  such  matters  as  the 
membership  of  our  churches,  the  status  of  the  ordained  ministry,  and  our 
collegiate  system?"  What  a  platform  we  present  as  a  model  for  the  enslaved 
churches  on  the  day  of  then  emancipation  ! 


8G8 

Besides  our  church  membership,  which  is  to  approach  nearer  to  the  "  multitudi- 
nous "  system,  as  well  as  to  include  children  on  the  principles  of  the  Church 
Catechism,  as  "  hens  of  God,  and  inheritors  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"*  our 
form  of  worship  is  to  be  borrowed  from  the  Church  :  so  that  if  we  can  teach 
them  nothing  we  can  learn  everything  from  them.  Thus  after  warning  "those 
protestanfs"  who,  as  high  church,  "  have  been  dallying  with  Rome,"  to  "  draw 
back,"  we  have  an  article  that  commences  by  attributing  the  improvement  of  our 
"  methods  of  conducting  divine  worship"  to  "the  Catholic  revival."  But  we 
stop  soon  enough  we  are  only  to  adopt  the  Church  prayers. 

"  There  is  now  a  pretty  general  agreement  that  some  of  the  prayers  in  the 
Church  of  England  service  may  be  used  with  advantage  both  to  minister  and 
people.  As  to  the  extent  to  which  these  principles  should  be  applied,  there  is 
however  the  greatest  possible  diversity  of  feeling."  But  if  we  cannot  get  Church- 
men to  turn  dissenters,  we  can  get  them  to  our  side  by  taking  theirs  ;  thus  : — 
"  Thirdly,  we  should  try  to  adapt  our  forms  of  service  as  far  as  ice  can 
conscientiously  to  those  of  other  churches,  and  especially  to  those  of  the  Church 
of  England,  that,  when  its  members  set  out  in  search  of  more  evangelical 
worship  and  simpler  church  government,  they  may  not  find  in  our  chapels  any 
harsh  and  repellent  difference  from  the  beautiful  service  round  which  all  their 
associations  have  entwined  themselves." 

Thus  after  all  our  mockery  of  "  praying  by  the  book,"  we  are  brought  to  book, 
to  get  Churehnien  to  Chapel. 

"These  remarks"  says  our  English  Independent,  "  are  occasioned  by  the 
publication  of  a  form  of  service  which  has  just  been  brougbt  into  use  by  the 
Congregation  at  Cheetham-hill  Chapel,  Manchester,  under  the  pastoral  care  of 
the  Rev.  G.  W.  Conder.  It  is  a  free  revision  of  the  Morning  and  Evening  Service 
of  the  Prayer-book.  Thus  after  an  opening  sanctus  or  anthem,  comes  the  well- 
known  'Dearly  beloved  brethren,'  omitting  the  phrase  '  miserable  offenders.''  " 

Now,  why  we  should  be  above  the  phrase  "  miserable  offenders "  is  not 
explained — perhaps  it  is  sufficiently  acknowledged  by  our  return  to  Church,  or 
rather  our  adaptation  of  its  services — "  convey,  the  wise  call  it," — in  order  to 
abstract  her  worshippers.  We  are  told — "  It  is  an  honest  attempt  to  help  the 
Free  Churches  to  a  more  hearty  and  intense  devotion  in  their  public  worship" 
— by  imitating  the  enslaved  church  !     This  is  our  achievement. 

In  an  article  "  Dishonesty  in  the  Pulpit,"  it  is  scarcely  concealed  by  the 
editor  of  the  English  Independent  that  this  dishonesty  exists  in  the  Dissenting 
pulpit,  which  seems  to  be  accused  by  him  of  already  anticipating  and  not  yet 
acknowledging  that  more  rational  theology  which  it  is  to  be  our  distinction  as 
Congregationalists  to  introduce,  yet  so  as  not  to  follow  Germany  altogether.  In 
this  article,  copied  into  the  Church  Opinion,  the  editor  sa}'s  . — 

"  It  is  not  of  the  clergy  of  the  Establishment  only  that  we  would  speak.  Let 
the  Dissenting  ministry,  the  Congregational  ministry,  look  to  it.  A  charge  is 
even  now  brought  against  them  that  they  hold  certain  doctrines  in  reserve — 
that  they  have  an  exoteric  and  esoteric  creed — that  they  preach  one  thing  in 
the  pulpit  and  say  another  thing  in  the  parlour.  If  this  charge  if  confined  to 
one  doctrine,  or  set  of  doctrines,  on  one  particular  theme,  while  it  is  admitted 
that  the  men  are  on  all  otlier  points,  or  at  bottom  and  in  the  main  honest  and 
true,  it  must  surely  be  founded  on  mistake.  Ob,  if  with  regard  to  that 
particular  doctrine  the  charge  is  true,  the  construction  which  we  are  bound 
to  put  upon  their  conduct  is  that  they  find  it  impossible  to  dogmatise  about  it, 

*  fciee  a  paper  read  10  tbe  Union,  en  the  "  Edition  of  Children  to  ths  Church,'    pp. 
16  and  8GS,  Congregational  Year  Book  for  1889. 


369 

and  that  believing  the  subject  to  be  very  imperfectly  explained  in  Scripture, 
they  are  themselves  very  cautious  in  their  language.  Our  ministers  must,  as  a 
body,  be  too  sensible  to  the  penalties  attending  insincerity  in  the  pulpit  to  dare 
to  preach  that  "which  they  do  not  believe.  The  ministry  of  a  voluntary  Church 
are  not  in  much  danger  of  sinking  into  formalism  ;  and  there  is  no  one  that 
would  dare  to  charge  the  Dissenting  ministry  of  England  with  general  hypocrisy ." 
'•  But  there  may  he  much  unfaithfulness  and  accommodation  without 
hypocrisy."  "It  may  he.  too,  that  some  considerable  changes  in  the  forms  of 
our  theology  and  the  methods  of  presenting  truth  will  be  needed  for  the  great 
struggle  with  unbelief  that  is  at  hand.  Perhaps  the  power  of  the  Reformation 
of  Luther  and  Calvin  is  worn  out,  and  that  a  new  one  is  needed.  Perfect 
candour  and  honesty  of  soul  can  alone  prepare  our  ministry  for  a  crisis  such  as 
this. 

"  At  the  St.  James's  Hall  meeting  in  May  the  Rev.  Alexander  Kannay 
urged  with  great  force  and  eloquence  that  upon  the  Congregationalists  of  England 
lay  the  honourable  service  of  placing  the  faith  and  religion  of  England  on  the 
basis  of  intelligent  conviction.  If  such  be  then-  duty,  how  ill  can  our 
ministers  afford  the  least  suspicion  of  the  sincerity,  of  the  thoroughness,  either 
of  their  character  or  of  their  speech." — English  Independent,  August  19,  1869. 

Now  this  very  office  of  "  placing  the  faith  and  religion  of  England  on  the  basis 
of  intelligent  conviction  "  means  nothing  more  than  accommodating  religious 
doctrines  to  rationalistic  pretensions.  To  suppose  that  now,  for  the  first  time, 
Christianity  has  to  be  "placed  on  a  basis  of  intelligent  conviction,"  and  that 
"  we  are  the  people  to  do  it,"  is  as  great  an  insult  to  former  believers  and  to  the 
Gospel  itself,  as  it  is  a  considerable  compliment  to  our  own  conceit.  The  only 
testimonial  for  securing  this  office  to  us  is  that  we  have  settled  nothing  yet,  but 
retreated  out  of  every  "  intelligent  conviction  "  of  which  we  have  boasted. 

Mr.  Binney  told  the  students  at  New  College  that  older  ministers  had  "  found 
out  what  a  terrible  thing  it  was  to  attempt  to  do  a  divine  thing  if  they  were 
not  divine  men," — to  "put  their  hands  to  the  doing  of  a  divine  thing" — to 
say,  "  I  am  the  gift  of  Christ  to  man." — (English  Independent,  July  2,  1868.) 

Now,  these  "  divine  men"  and  their  '"divine''  predecessors  should  be  able  to 
do  this  "  divine  thing  "  of  "  placing  religion"  on  an  "intelligent"  basis  ;  but 
even  this  great  teacher  told  them  respecting  the  atonement,  (November  26, 
1868) — "  He  did  not  attempt  to  explain  it ;  there  was  more  satisfaction  in 
broadly  stating  the  truth.  He  did  not  care  for  the  philosophies  of  the  atone- 
ment :  he  would  be  saved  by  eaith,  not  by  the  understanding."  Now 
"  faith"  is  "  the  understanding"  in  opposition  to  sense,  and  also  in  opposition 
to  ignorance.     "  0  ye  of  little  faith,"  "  how  is  it  that  ye  do  not  understand  ?" 

It  seems  however  that  we  Congregationalists  are  looking  out  for  a  faith  that 
will  settle  on  "intelligent  conviction" — a  flight  beyond  the  Apostle  Paul,  no 
doubt,  for  he  says  : — "  I  will  pray  with  the  spirit,  and  I  will  pray  with  the 
understanding  also."  He  preferred  "  five  words"  "  with  the  understanding  "  to 
instruct  others"  before  "  ten  thousand"  in  this  "  new  tongue"  of  a  blind  Roman 
"  faith." 

It  is  modestly  admitted  by  our  oracle  that  '  it  would  be  a  little  too  audacious 
and  self-complaisant  to  say  that  the  Congregationalists  in  their  Union  had  set  a 
model  for  all  Protestant  Church  Assemblies."  (October  8,  1869.)  They  might 
say  that  last  May  they  set  a  model  for  Papist  Churches,  in  the  way  of  persecu- 
tion, and  in  the  evasions  to  escape  the  odium  of  it. 

The  same  paper  contains  a  letter  sensibly  recommending  "  Bishoprics  or 
Archbishoprics"  to  look  after  the  Churches, — "  to  organise  disturbed  elements 


370 

into  peaceful  strength,"  for  "  we  are  in  a  good  deal  of  sad  confusion  in  con- 
sequence of  trying  to  proceed  on  the  principle  that  we  are  all  equally  able  to 
take  care  of  ourselves  and  do  what  is  right." 

ri-  "  "With  respect  to  the  denomination  in  its  more  general  interests,  what  is  our 
boast  ?  That  we  exist  in  England  in  order  to  testify  to  certain  [query, 
uncertain?]  essential  principles  of  the  Christian  Church — that  we  are  a  witness- 
ing body."     (August  12,  1869  ;  "  from  a  correspondent,"  in  leader  type.) 

Besides  many  letters  urging  amalgamation  with  the  "  United  Methodist  Free 
Churches,"  a  specific  and  spasmodic  effort  in  another  direction  is  to  be  proposed 
at  the  autumnal  meetings  at  Wolverhampton:  since  "Dr.  Morton  Brown 
will  propose  a  possible  basis  of  union  between  Congregationalists  and  Presby- 
terians."    (English  Independent,  August  12,  1869.) 

"  Let  it  not  be  supposed  that  we  wish  to  point  to  Congregationalism  as  the 
only  resource  of  bewildered  Christians  who  have  become  detached  from  their  old 
moorings."  This  is  modest  again.  We  are  next  told  that  we  have  not  to  read  the 
scores  of  letters  in  the  Daily  Telegraph  "to  prove  that  there  are  hosts  of 
malcontents  within  our  borders,  or  that  the  organization  of  the  denomination 
is  so  very  loose  and  imperfect  as  to  have  small  claim  to  the  title  of  a  system  at 
all."     (September  3,  1868.) 

As  to  religious  and  voluntary  education  we  have  turned  round ;  and 
are  not  yet  sure  whetber  still  to  agree  to  last  year's  acceptance  of  Government 
denominational  schools. 

The  report  to  the  Annual  Assembly,  Tuesday,  May  7,  1850  ("Year  Book"  for 
1850,  p.  17 — 36,)  says  : — "  Had  your  Union  existed  for  no  other  purpose  than 
for  the  struggle  in  favour  of  voluntary  and  religious  education,  which  it 
commenced,  and  has  all  along  steadily  maintained,  through  evil  report  and 
through  good  report,  its  work  herein  would  have  remained  its  lasting  vindication 
and  honour." 

It  will  be  recorded,  probably,  as  it  is  anticipated  by  the  English  Independent, 
respecting  the  autumnal  meeting  of  1869,  that  this  Union  sitting  on  "  the  basis  of 
intelligent  conviction,"  heartily  repudiates  both  religious  and  voluntary  education, 
and  goes  for  a  Government  secular  scheme,  to  enforce  church  rates  on 
Christian  people  for  the  support  of  a  form  of  education  from  which  they  con- 
scientiously dissent.     It  may  be  called  an  infidel  church-rate. 

Last  year  the  "  intelligent  conviction"  was  that  we  should  take  whatmoney  we 
could  get  for  our  small  State  Churches,  called  "  denominational  schools  :"  this 
year  we  may  repudiate  that,  to  liberate  Gladstone  from  the  priests  of  Ireland — if 
that  be  possible. 

In  1850  "  The  Congregational  Board  of  Education,"  having  been  so  highly 
lauded  as  the  gem  of  the  Union  in  the  general  report,  makes  these  observations 
in  its  own  special  report : — "  They  feel  satisfaction  in  being  able  to  express 
continued  confidence  in  the  principle  they  have  adopted  :" — religious  and 
voluntary  education  !  "  Under  the  influence  of  this  growing  conviction,  and 
having  entire  confidence  in  the  vitality  of  their  principles,  they  cannot  but 
cherish  [in  italics]  bright  hopes  for  the  future,"  p.  29. 

These  "bright  hopes  for  the  future"  were  connected  with  the  fact  that — 
"  The  annual  petition  against  Government  interference  in  education  was 
presented  in  March  last,  by  Mr.  Bright,"  (34.) 

"  The  Crosby  Hall  Lectures,"  now  the  silent  witnesses  against  Congrega- 
tionalists and  for  the  voluntary  principle,  sent  to  the  members  of  Parliament 
"  had  been  thoughtfully  read.  The  Board  hopes  the  day  is  not  far  distant  when 
the  spirit  of  the  House  of  Commons  will  be  more  decidedly  in  favour  of  the  prin- 
ciple of  voluntary  education." 


371 

But  now,  as  Mr.  Gladstone  lately  believed  in  disendowment  only  for  the 
province  of  Ireland,  so  we  believe  in  the  voluntary  principle  only,  so  far  as  to 
disendowthe  clergy,  and  to  endow  secular  schools,  or  denominational,  if  feasible  : 
for  we  are  in  transition.     But  "  Willinghood  "  is  gone  ! 

The  failure  of  the  free  churches  to  establish  a  platform  of  polity,  finance,  and 
doctrine  as  an  example  for  those  that  are  or  may  be  "disestablished,"  is  too 
painfully  manifest  in  the  disorder  and  uncertainty  in  all  these  three  respects 
which  "  the  Dissenting  World"  manifests  at  the  present  time. 

As  a  free  element  dissent  is  destroying  itself  or  being  destroyed  by  factitious 
organisations  over-riding  Congregationalism  ;  so  that  while  "  a  rope  of  sand  "  as 
to  unity  of  doctrine,  it  is  a  rope  of  strangulation  and  red  tapeism  as  to  officialism 
and  the  usurpation  of  those  who  "  lord  it  over"  the  heritage  more  haughtily  if  not 
more  handsomely  than  any  prelatical  authority. 

Our  voluntaryism  is  often  an  excuse  for  not  being  obliged  to  do  or  give  any- 
thing :  and  while  we  boast  of  voluntaryism,  the  compulsory  churchman  practices 
it. 

"We  perpetually  speak  of  the  disadvantage  of  being  endowed,  and  in  the  same 
breath  complain  of  the  injustice  of  others  enjoying  that  disadvantage :  we 
patronized  the  Irish  peasant,  as  no  more  to  be  a  slave  working  for  the  Irish 
Church  :  not  that  we  cared  for  the  poor  any  more  than  our  political  leader  did, 
but  because  we  envy  the  English  clergyman.  We  cry  out  against  the  ritualism 
of  the  church,  and  instead  of  joining  as  citizens  to  call  for  an  enforcement  of 
the  law,  we  rather  prefer  the  evil,  as  a  ground  for  "  disestablishing  "  the 
Evangelical  party.  We  follow  as  our  "heaven-sent"  liberator,  the  greatest 
ritualistic  layman  in  England,  whose  theological  testimonial  was  afforded  by  the 
greatest  ritualistic  bishop — late  of  Salisbury — assuring  the  world  that  "  Mr. 
Gladstone  would  be  true  to  the  end  to  God's  truth" — that  is,  to  ritualism, 
which  we,  his  dissenting  followers  so  loudly  lament. 

When  red-handed  murder  led  the  way  of  a  red-hatted  cardinal,  he  was 
accompanied  in  his  triumph  by  Quaker  peacemon,  liberation  Baptists,  Indepen- 
dents, and  United  Free  Church  Methodists,  with  Bradlaugh  and  Finlen, 
followed  by  the  rearguard  of  agrarian  sharpshooters,  who  levelled  down  Protes- 
tant landlords  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  Pope's  legate  to  demand  government 
pay  for  educating  men  in  treason  and  assassination,  as  the  sole  lords  paramount 
of  the  human  mind  and  dictators  to  civil  governors  in  all  affairs  ecclesiastical, 
agrarian,  and  scholastical. 

Our  great  leader,  Mr.  Miall,  in  the  Nonconformist,  argued  for  putting  all 
power  into  their  hands,  when  he  said — "  We  want  to  adopt  a  policy  which 
will  hear  evidence  on  the  face  of  it  that  it  has  been  framed  with  a  view  to 
satisfy  Irish  Roman  Catholic  feeling.  It  is  their  will,  not  ours,  that  we 
desire  that  policy  to  express."  (Nonconformist,  Oct.  14,  1808  )  A  more  ultra- 
montane sentiment  has  never  been  uttered.  In  seeking  the  casting  votes  of  the 
Irish  Roman  Catholic  voters  at  Bradford,  he  renounced  voluntaryism  in  education, 
and  specially  told  them  that  he  had  "  opposed  the  inspection  of  nunneries" 
— those  living-  tombs  of  women  misled  in  the  romance  of  youth  to  bid  farewell 
to  the  world,  at  a  time  when  they  are  unfit  to  decide,  and  after  which  all  retreat 
is  cut  off — by  Liberation  Conformers  to  ecclesiastical  domination. 

"These,"  said  he.  "  are  my  titles  to  the  political  confidence  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  voters  of  Bradford." 

This  is  the  road  in  which  Liberation  is  leading  us ;  while  our  abandonment 
of  gospel  truth,  and  general  melting  down  of  dogmas,  or  specific  religious 
doctrine,  will  leave  our  people  exposed  to  all  Roman  wiles  and  seductions. 


372 

The  Fvglhh  Independent,  on  "  Congregationalists  and  Education,"  Oct.  29, 
18(i8,  says  : — *'  The  repeated  conferences  which  were  held  last  year  by  the  Con- 
gregationalists on  the  subject  of  education  have  resulted  in  the  opening  of  some 
new  day-schools  in  connection  with  our  chapels  (we  have  no  means  of  knowing 
how  many),  in  the  acceptance  of  the  Government  grants  by  the  managers  of 
others,  and  in  the  conversion  of  Homerton  College  into  a  Government 
training  school  under  advantageous  conditions.  The  College  has  been  favoured, 
for  the  training  schools  already  subsidised  by  Government  produce  more  teachers 
than  are  required  ;  but  to  Homerton  we  look  for  a  supply  of  earnest  religious 
teachers,  who,  it  may  be  hoped,  will  hereafter  be  in  great  request." 

It  appears  that  we  have  been  bribed  by  the  "favour"  of  introduction  to  compete 
with  poor  men  and  women  ''already  subsidised" into  an  overcrowded  profession, 
who  may  join  the  emigrant  ship — carpenters  and  other  economically  "  dis- 
established" individuals.  This  cruelty  to  "subsidised"  schoolmasters  and 
mistresses — deliberately  increasing  the  number  of  educated  paupers,  for  the  good 
of  our  denomination  that  others  may  starve,  or  go  back  to  trades  that  they  have 
forgotten,  is  a  principle  proposed  even  for  ode  Ministry,  which  is  too  generally 
regarded  as  simply  a  convenience  "for  the  good  of  the  cause,"  having  neither 
manly  nor  sacred  rights  to  support  and  honour. 

Perhaps  the  most  wicked  and  cruel  specimen  of  this  is  presented  in  a  long 
communicated  article,  in  leader  type,  English  Independent,  Aug.  12,  1869, 
wherein  it  is  acknowledged  that  our  ranks  are  over- crowded  by  non-collegiately 
educated  men:  "  Our  colleges  in  five  years'  time  have  trained  185  men,  when 
440  were  wanted,"  and  were  supplied  from  other  sources. 

Then  comes  this  cool  commercial  suggestion: — "  If  ever  we  are  to  have  a 
ministry  of  thorough  efficiency,  then  we  ought  to  have  in  training  con- 
siderably  MORE  THAN  WE  REALLY  WANT,  in  order  that  AFTER   THEIR  TRAINING, 

we  may  have  a  selection  of  the  best  for  the  work  of  the  ministry."     A  large 
"  stock  "  is  to  be  kept  on  hand ! 

I  cannot  imagine  anything  more  insulting  to  the  Ministry,  more  cruel  to  poor 
students,  who  are  thus  deliberately  trained  for  non-  selection  ! 

But  then  our  Congregationalist  teachers  who  are  to  glut  the  market  are  to  be 
"religious:"  and  so  the  proper  objects  of  Government  support  by  taxation! 
Even  Mr.  Turberville,  who  edit*  that  paper  and  leads  our  Congregational 
dance  through  all  figures  and  moods,  theological,  neological,  secular,  and 
communistic,  with  a  kind  word  for  the  Atheist,  whom  he  invented  and  flattered, — 
Chapter  XIX,  "  Dissenting  World,"  says : — "  Let  us  frankly  own  that  the 
change  has  been  all  on  our  part,"  Oct.  29,  1868.  In  fact  we  have  done 
nothing  but  change,  and  as  one  writer  says  are  now  "  rounding  the  point  "  on 
the  educational  question, — oscillating  between  government  "religious"  and 
government  "  secular"  education — so  that  we  have  at  least  the  "  only  demon- 
stration,'' of  the  unity  of  the  church,  in  the  anarchy  of  our  principles  ;  as  is  pro- 
foundly observed  by  the  English  Independent,  May  14,  18G9,  on  the  President's 
Address  to  the  Annual  Assembly : — 

"  No  passage  of  his  (Mr.  Dale's)  address  more  profoundly  affected  the 
assembly  than  that  in  which  he  insisted  that  the  existing  and  living  unity 
of  the  Church  was  only  demonstrated  by  the  violent  differences 
about  doctrine  and  organisation,  in  the  midst  of  which,  and  in  spite  of 
which,  a  great  multitude  of  believers  retain  tha  same  essential  characteristics  of 
heart  and  soul,  the  same  repentance,  faith,  and  love." 

This  "  same  faith,"  with  contradictory  belief,  is  full-blown  Godwinianism,  as 
expounded  in  chap.  xv.     Now  if  contradictory  doctrines  prove  "  one  Lord,  one 


373 

faith ;"  "  Ecclesiastical  anarchy" — (as  the  state  of  the  churches  is  headed, 
English  Independent,  Sept.  3,  1869) — is  -visible  unity,  and  is  all  that  [we  have 
to  show.  "This  general  breaking  up,"  says  our  editor,  "is  but  a  part  of 
the  revolt  for  which  the  Eeformers  gave  the  signal  when  they  departed  from 
Eome.  It  is  the  Protestantism  of  the  Protestant  Eeligion." — Sept.  3, 
1869.  None  but  Jesuits  should  say  so  ;  and  none  but  Jesuits  should  introduce 
the  "anarchy"  here  described  to  show  the  "unity" — in  the  "same  faith" — in 
"violent  differences  about  doctrine  and  organisation."  No  better  argument 
could  be  held  for  going  back  to  Eome,  than  this  account  of  the  Eeformation  and 
its  effects.  The  wretched  pun  invented  by  Professor  Godwin,  and  adopted  (let 
us  hope  inadvertently)  by  Mr.  Dale,  but  so  glorified  by  our  editor, — that  faith  is 
the  same  whatever  we  believe,  since  believing  is  believing  all  the  world  over  ; 
the  same  process  of  mental  machinery  ;  and  therefore  we  have  ' '  the  same 
faith,"  whether  we  accept  Mormonism.  Hahoniedanism,  orEomanism  deservedly 
gains  for  its  inventor  this  emphatic  description — plus  ariis  adhibuisse  quam 
Fidei*  They  have  displayed  more  of  artifice  than  of  Faith,  which  also  means 
Fidelity.  Whoever  masters  this  "  with  the  understanding,"  knows  the  whole 
trick  of  our  "  Liberal  pastors,"  and  the  danger  to  our  innocent  flocks.  Some  will 
say, — Hcec  ludibria  religionum  non  pudere  in  lucem  proferre,  etvix  pueris 
dignas  ambiges,  scnes  ac  consulares  fall  end  cejidei  exquirire  ?f  Do  you  not  blush 
to  bring  out  such  mockeries  of  sacred  obligations  ;  and  you,  being  grave  and 
reverend  seniors,  excogitate  quirks  scarcely  worthy  of  schoolboys  playing 
with  words,  and  all  this  in  order  to  undermine  the  faith  of  the  people  ? 

Our  doctrinal  vagaries  were  painfully  exhibited  in  Dr.  Ealeigh's  inau- 
gural address,  Hay,  1868,  in  which  he  offered  to  take  the  "facts"  of  science  if 
the  scientific  sceptic  world  would  take  ours,  giving  them  free  licence  to  hold  the 
doctrines  of  religion  in  abeyance. 

The  pretence  to  this  new  power  of  licensing  unbelief  was  thus  defended — "  If 
we  claim  the  right  to  reason  on  scientific  data,  to  draw  our  own  deductions," 
"  shall  we  deny  that  they  [scientific  men]  have  the  same  right  to  reason  freely 
from  the  Christian  data,  the  historical  facts  relating  to  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  ?" 

"  We  are  surely  bound  to  allow  exactly  the  liberty  that  we  take."  That  is,  we 
Christians  claiming  a  liberty  to  hold  different  opinions  on  scientific  questions, 
ought  to  give  to  scientific  men  the  same  liberty  on  Christian  doctrines. 
Undoubtedly,  as  between  men  and  men  anybody  can  reject  any  fact  or  any 
theory,  but  we  have  no  license  to  make  any  compromise  as  to  the  claims  of 
Christianity.  Whether  men  believe  in  Christ  or  not  is  no  compact  between 
them  and  the  Congregational  Union,  even  though  its  meeting  is  "  as  good 
a  church  council  as  ever  was  summoned  by  bishop  or  pope."  The  vigorous 
vapidity  of  that  inaugural  address  is  beyond  criticism  ;  the  whole  was  a  vain 
logomachy,  and  tended  to  lower  the  claims  of  the  Saviour  and  Judge  of  the  world. 

It  seems  that  while  the  pope  and  his  cardinals  condemn  modern  science, 
we  accept  it,  if  its  professors  will  accept  our  "facts;  which  is  all  we  insist 
on.  For  we  do  not  know  that  "  facts  "  are  not  science  nor  religion  ;  the 
one  being  theory,  and  the  other,  doctrine ;  and  both  are  to  be  ignored  as  a 
compromise  between  the  Church  and  the  World.  For  as  to  "facts"  in 
science — the  earth,  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars  ;  the  first  may  be  as  fiat  as  a 
pancake,  or  "as  round  as  a  horse's  head;"  the  moon  maybe  the  size  of  a 
pancake ;   the  sun,  twice  its  diameter  ;  and  the  stars,  "  little  diamonds  in  the 

*  Livii,  Lib.  iv.,  cap.  xliv. 
f  Livi,  Lib.  is.  cap.  xi. 


374 

sky."  These  are  the  visible  "  facts  : "  but  the  science  is,  our  present 
astronomy,  by  which,  sun,  moon,  and  stars  are  enlarged,  and  the  earth  rounded 
like  an  orange,  only  flattened  at  the  poles. 

Now  just  as  "  facts,"  to  the  untutored  senses,  eeduce  the  sun,  so  "  facts" 
in  religion — apart  from  its  momentous  truths,  reduce  the  Saviour's  glory,  as 
much  as  the  eye  of  sense  for  visible  facts,  reduces  the  vastness  and  magnificence 
of  the  eye  of  day.  The  Christ  of  the  Gospels,  in  the  "  historical  facts  of  his 
life,"  Who.  when  presented  again  as  He  lived  on  earth — is  to  conquer  the  world, 
is  that  same  Christ  Whom,  as  Dr.  Baleigh  said  in  another  address,  the 
"  nations  crucified  ;  "  as  if  He  appeared  again,  and  came  to  our  Union 
meetings,  it  would  perhaps  be  said  of  Him,  as  by  an  editorial  Committeeman 
in  1866,  and  by  the  Christian  World  in  1869,  that  He  was  "  extinguished." 

To  tell  the  Congregational  Union,  as  Mr.  Dale  did  in  his  inaugural  discourse, 
May,  1869, — weakly  following  Dr.  Baleigh's  "  fact  "  theory, — that  Christ,  when 
on  earth,  conquered  men  by  his  acts  and  character,  which,  being  so  presented, 
would  conquer  the  world  afresh,  is  to  forget  the  whole  story  of  Christ 
crucified. 

Even  Mr.  Turberville,  in  our  "  representative"  organ,  observed  that  Mr. 
Dale  did  not  make  enough  of  the  Christ  of  the  epistles.  No  !  this  is  the 
part  which  we  ignore — the  revelation  of  the  Holy  Ghost  sent  down  from  heaven. 
We  are  now  to  "  know  Christ  after  the  flesh  !  " — and  put  the  facts  of  His  life  to 
scientific  analysis. 

Mr.  Dale's  declaration,  that  we  should  preach  Jesus  Christ  Himself, 
rather  than  about  Christ,  was  only  that  fatal  Godwinian  language  which 
repudiates  all  "  propositions  "  about  the  Saviour's  rank  and  work,  and  presents 
"  Jesus  Christ  Himself,"  just  as  the  priest  does  in  the  Eucharist ;  and  to  our 
new  cry,  that  we  have  •'  Jesus  Christ  Himself,"  that  idol  is  their  old 
answer.  This  form  of  speech  is  sufficiently  expounded  in  Chapter  XV.  of  this 
Autobiography. 

To  help  the  Papists  in  their  educational  demand  for  Ireland,  nothing- 
better  could  be  said,  than  what  this  English  Independent  says,  October  29, 
1868  : — "  As  matters  stand,  however,  no  one  would  dream  of  interfering  with  the 
existing  system  of  grants  in  aid  ;  and  the  Congregationalists  can  do  nothing 
better  than  multiply  good  schools  as  fast  as  they  can,  and  take  as 
much  of  the  Government  money  as  they  can  fairly  get. 

A  writer  glancing  but  obliquely  at  the  position  lately  assumed  by  the  Con- 
gregational Board  of  Education,  asks — "Are  we  in  a  Jesuit-like  spirit  to  take 
pay  and  patronage  professedly  for  secular  results  V 

"  As  to  those  Independents  who  are  in  favour  of  Denominational  Schools,  I 
should  like  them,"  says  he,  "  to  state  clearly  the  difference  between  establishing 
and  endowing  Denominational  Schools  and  establishing  and  endowing  Congre- 
gational Churches.'''' 

He  reminds  the  Congregational  Union,  preparatory  to  its  meetings  at 
Wolverhampion,  October,  lb69,  that  "  Denominational  Schools"*  are  exactly 
what  the  Irish  priests  are  demanding.  We  Liberationists  are  opening  the  door 
for  them.  Even  the  English  Independent,  which  recommended  us  to  get  all  the 
Government  money  we  can  for  our  Denominational  Schools,  now  gays: — "  If  we 
are  determined  at  all  hazards  to  resist  the  claims  of  the  Irish  priests  for  money  for 
schools,  we  must  be  prepared  to  give  up  denominational  grants  in  England." 

In  the  Congregational  meeting  at  Leeds,  October,  1808,  Mr.  E.  Baixes.  M.P., 
who  like  Mr.  Miall  so  long  opposed  Government  edncation.  and  advocated  the 
*  The  Rev.  F.  S.  Johnstone,  English  Independent,  September  16, 1869. 


375 

voluntary  principle  instead,  when  joining  with  "  voluntaries"  to  make  Homerton 
Training  School  "compulsory,'1  said: — "They  might  expect  the  aid  of  State 
grants  for  education,  and  let  them  be  assured  that  by  doing  so  there  would  be 
no  interference  with  conscience,  or  with  any  amount  of  religious  instruction 
which  they  might  think  it  their  duty  to  give.  (Hear,  hear.)  Before  sitting 
down  he  declared  his  solemn  conviction  that  it  would  be  vain  as  well  as  wrong 
for  them'  to  seek  to  discharge  the  religious  element  from  the  education  of  the 
people.     (Hear,  hear.)"     English  Independent,  October  29,  1868. 

But  we  are  "  rounding  that  point  "  also,  for  the  same  oracle  puts  down  for 
"the  autumnal  session"  at  Wolverhampton,  1869: — "On  Friday  evening,  a 
public  meeting  on  Education  is  announced,  Mr.  S.  Morley,  M.P.,  presiding  ; 
and  after  so  long  an  interval  for  discussion  and  formation  of  opinion,  the 
Congregationalisms  of  England  and  Wales  will  be  prepared  to  make  an  unequi- 
vocal declaration  in  favour  of  a  scheme  of  public  education  in  which  all 
denominational  differences  shall  be  completelg  ignored.  We  are  not  called 
upon  to  say  that  such  a  scheme  is  immediately  possible,  or  that  it  would  be 
desirable  to  abolish  the  existing  system  of  grants  in  aid  of  denominational 
effort ;  but  we  are  called  upon  to  declare  that  that  is  the  end  which  we  desire 
to  see  resulting  from  all  our  educational  experiments,  and  at  which  we  shall 
always  steadily  aim." 

Here  it  is  stated  that  we  shall  give  up  "the  religious  element"  in  the  educa- 
tion of  the  people,  but  we  are  to  "  get  as  much  Government  money  as  we  can," 
under  the  pretence  that  we  "  always  steadily  aimed''  at  doing  without  it.  But 
so  thoroughly  are  we  opposed  to  endowments,  and  especially  religious  and  public 
endowments — not  Lady  Hewley's  Charity,  which  we  fought  the  Unitarians  for — 
that  as  another  specimen  of  our  "  steady  aim"  :  — 

"  Papers  will  be  read  on  several  topics  of  the  very  first  importance  and  urgency. 
How  we  may  best  avail  ourselves  of  the  [Endowed  /]  Universities  of  Oxford  and 
Cambridge  for  the  education  of  our  ministers,"  is  the  title  of  a  paper  which  Mr. 
Neville  Goodman  proposes  to  read.  Dr.  Morton  Brown  will  propound  "  A 
possible  basis  of  union  between  Congregationalists  and  Presbyterians  ;"  and  the 
Bev.  E.  R.  Conder,  of  Leeds,  will  read  a  paper  on  '  The  Church  and  the 
Congregation.' " 

After  these  dislocations  of  our  principles,  we  are  treated  to  this  finale : — 
"  It  is  proposed  to  hold  a  public  meeting  in  Queen-street  Chapel  on  the  Tuesday 
evening,  and  a  meeting  for  working  men  next  evening  in  the  Agricultural  Hall. 
A  conversazione  in  the  Com  Exchange  will  wind  up  the  general  meetings  of  the 
Union  on  Thursday  evening,  but  on  the  same  evening  a  detachment  of  Congrega- 
tional leaders  will  be  told  off  for  duty  in  Birmingham,  and  the  noble  town  hall 
of  the  midland  metropolis  will  be  used  for  the  enunciation  or  our  victorious 
principles." 

Now,  if  the  editor  had  said  "  the  renunciation  of  our  victorious  principles  " 
the  whole  would  be  complete.  Perhaps  '•  enunciation  of  our  victorious 
principles  "  is  a  misprint  for  the  "  renunciation  "  of  them. 

For  what  have  we  left,  of  all  that  was  "  most  surely  believed  amongst  us" 
when  I  entered  the  Congregational  ministry? 

His  ego  gratiora  dictu  alia  esse  scio  :  sed  me  vera  pro  gratis  loqui,  etsi 
meum  ingenium  non  moneret,  necessitas  cogit. 

Vellem  equidem  vobis  placere,  Quirites,  sed  multo  malo  vos  salvos  esse, 
qualicumque  erga  me  animo  futuri  estis.* 

*  Livii,  Lib.  Ill,  cap.  lxTiii. 


37G 

I  know  that  there  are  other  things  to  be  said  that  are  more  agreeable ;  bnt 
even  if  my  disposition  did  not  prompt  me  to  speak  truth  in  preference  to 
flattery,  necessity  forces  me.  I  could  wish,  indeed,  to  please  you,  but  I  would 
far  rather  that  you  should  be  safe,  with  whatever  feelings  you  may  hereafter 
regard  me. 

Broomhall  Park,  Sheffield,  October,  1869. 


THE    DISSENTING    WOBLD  : 

AN      AUTOBIOGKAPHY. 

By   the   BEV.    BREWIN    GRANT,  B.A., 

Congregational  Minister  of  Twenty-jive  Years''  standing. 

WITH   TESTIMONIALS 

As    to  Ability,    Character,  and   Usefulness,   from   the  following 

EMINENT   NONCONFORMIST   DIVINES: — 


DR.  JOSEPH  PARKER 

JOHN  ANGELL  JAMES 

JAMES  PARSONS 

DR.  MORTON  BROWN 

DR.  S.  M'CALL 

T.  ARNOLD 

ROBERT  A.  VAUCHAN,  BA. 

ALEX.  THOMSON,  M.A. 

R.  D.  WILSON 

CEORCE  LEGGE,  LL.D. 

DAVID  LOXTON 


THOMAS  RAFFLES 

DR.  HALLEY 

ISAAC  NEW,  (Eaptist.) 

WATSON  SMITH 

J.  M.  CHARLTON,  M.A. 

CHARLES  VIKGE,  (Baptist. 

ENOCH  MELLOR,  M.A. 

WM.  ANDERSON,  LL  D.  (Presbyterian.) 

J.  W.  RICHARDSON 

THOS.  SWANN,  (Baptist.) 


THIRD  ENLARGED  EDITION,  PRICE  FIVE  SHILLINGS, 
WITH  A  PORTRAIT  OF  THE  AUTHOR. 


London  :  W.  Macintosh,  Paternoster  Row ;  and  direct  by  Post  from  the 
Author,  (Sheffield,)  for  GO  Stamps. 


377 

OPINIONS  OF   THE    PRESS. 


From  the  PALL  MALL  GAZETTE. 
"AN    EXTRAORDINARY    AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 

"  No  doubt  it  must  have  been  a  great  relief  to  him  (the  author)  to  sit  down  and 
write  out  his  grievances,  greater  still  to  publish  them,  greatest  of  all  to  induce 
the  public  to  buy  and  read  them.  And  with  some  such  slight  comment  we  were 
at  first  disposed  to  take  our  leave  of  Mr.  Brewin  Grant  and  his  book,  but  as  we 
were  alternately  attracted  and  repelled  by  the  naive  sincerity  and  virulence  of 
the  style,  it  struck  us  that  both  the  man  and  the  book  threw  a  very  singular  tiqht 
upon  the  manners  and  the  customs  of  the  Dissenting  world,  and  might  afford 

the  GENERAL  PUBLIC  SOME  USEFUL  MATTER  FOR  REFLECTION. 

"  His  superiors  evidently  recognised  iu  him  a  young  man  of  considerable 
talent,  and  were  glad  to  employ  him  in  a  wild  raid  against  the  Infidel  and  the 
Romanist,  but  when  it  was  found  that,  like  an  exceedingly  explosive  shell,  he 
might  go  off  at  any  moment  and  injure  friends  and  foes  alike  [by  attacking 
'  heresy  '  among  themselves]  we  can  hardly  wonder  at  their  desire  to  get  rid  of 
him,  although  we  may  regret  that  they  were  not  more  scrupulous  in  the 

MEANS  THEY  USED. 

"  He  preached  before  his  examiners  on  the  appropriate  text,  '  Who  art  thou, 
0  great  mountain  ?  before  Zerubbabel  thou  shalt  become  a  plain.'  At  college 
he  appears  to  have  been  an  incorrigible  wag. 

"  Mr.  Grant  showed  that  he  could  be  independent  as  well  as  witty,  by  refusing 
to  submit  to  a  method  of  inquisitorial  discipline  which  certainly  reflects  little 
credit  upon  the  college." 

"  It  is  surprising  that  with  his  very  extensive  course  of  reading  he  failed  to 
imbibe  more  enlightened  views  of  human  life,  and  more  liberal  [heterodox]  ideas 
of  theology." 

Respecting  the  Rivulet  Controversy  the  Reviewer,  who  is  "  Broad  Church," 
says  : — "  In  a  rash  moment  a  reverend  brother  published  a  book  of  poems  called 
'The  Rivulet;  Hymns  for  the  Heart  and  Voice,'  which  were  found  to  deviate 
in  some  parts  from  the  orthodox  doctrine.  The  scathing  satirist,  the  British. 
Banner,  was  immediately  down  on  the  poor  little  '  Rivulet '  with  a  very  severe 
article.  In  vain  does  the  venerable  Mr.  Binney  intercede.  Mr.  Newman  Hall, 
Mr.  Baldwin  Brown,  and  a  few  other  leading  Dissenters  tried  to  cast  their 
aegis  over  the  prostrate  poet.  But  Mr.  Brewin  Grant  leads  on  the  attack. 
Can  anything  be  too  severe  for  a  man  who  is  weak  on  the  Atonement  ?" 

On  the    New  College   Neological    Controversy,  the    Reviewer   observes : — 

"  It  seems  that  Professor  Godwin,  of  New  College,  St.  John's  Wood,  hailing 
the  rise  of  liberal  opinions  amongst  Dissenters,  and  priming  himself  for  a 
little  more  freedom  of  speech,  published  a  book  in  which  he  advocated  a  mild 
form  of  what  is  commonly  known  as  Broad  Church  theology.  This  proved  too 
much  for  the  self-constituted  champion  of  orthodoxy.  The  liberal  pastors 
"  Messrs.  Binney,  Newman  Hall,  and  a  few  other  liberal-minded  leaders 
of  Dissent,"  again  try  to  stop  their"  "impulsive"  "friend,"  who  "appears 
hardly  aware"  of  the  "slow  but  sure  progress"  "the  new  tenets" 
have   been   "  making  amongst  Dissenters." 

This  opposition  to  '  the  new  tenets '  fostered  by  the  '  liberal  pastors,' 
was  the  author's  first  offence  ;  when  he  found  it  '  necessary  to  write ' — '  in 


378 

capitals  of  no  ordinary  dimensions ' — "  Christ  shall  be  magnified."  But  his 
'  capital '  offence  was  in  not  lauding  and  magnifying  Mr.  Gladstone,  with  '  the 
liberal  pastors.'  They  had  borne  much  and  long  with  him,  but  this  was  too 
much  : — "After  a  dashing  attack  upon  Mr.  Gladstone  his  own  long-suffering  com- 
munity became  too  'hot  for  him.  They  seem  to  have  borne  long  with  him  for 
the  sake  of  his  great  talents,  but  when  it  became  evident  that  his  zeal  was  not 
according  to  knowledge — [i.e.,  not  according  to  Gladstone] — we  regret  to  write 
that  they  cast  him  out  of  their  synagogue  [where  Gladstone  is  worshipped]. 
The  act  was  no  doubt  an  act  or  flagrant  injustice.  There  was  no  trial,  no 
defence,  and  no  formal  proceedings  of  any  kind.  They  objected  to  what  he 
himself  calls  his  '  offensive  honesty,'  and  the  Congregational  Union  simply 
omitted  his  name  from  the  list  of  their  accredited  ministers.  This  is  nearly 
equivalent  to  depriving  a  man  of  his  orders,  for  no  congeegation  will  engage 
a  minister  so  discredited." 

"  It  is  just  as  well  to  note  these  blots  in  Dissent  at  a  time  when  a  new  con- 
stitution is  being  framed  for  the  disestablished  Church  in  Ireland.  Another 
blot  which  Mr.  Grant  points  out  and  from  which  he  has  suffered  is,  that  the 
school  and  college  is  allowed  to  extend  over  and  influence  a  man's  future  career." 
"  His  (Mr.  Grant's)  earnestness)  makes  one  regret  that  no  room  can  be  found 
for  him  in  the  religious  community  to  which  he  belongs.  At  the  same  time,  the 
unfortunate  narrowness  of  his  opinions  [not  being  Broad  Church]  and  the 
unbridled  nature  of  his  eloquence  [not  being  pliable]  renders  it  exceedingly 
difficult  to  utilize  him  at  a  time  when  something  like  an  intellectual  [i.e.  rational] 
revival  is  traversing  the  Dissenting  sects. 

However,  we  suppose  all  religious  bodies  have  their  difficulties  in  connection 
with  ministers  whom  it  is  neither  possible  to  silence  nor  to  soothe,  but  it  is 
certainly  remarkable  that  whilst  the  Congregational  Union  are  turning  out  the 
Eev.  Brewin  Grant  for  his  orthodoxy,  the  Bishops  of  the  English  Church  are 
trying  to  eject  the  Kev.  Charles  Voysey  for  heresy." 

N.B. — The  above  review  instinctively  fixes  on  the  Autobiographer's  original 
offence — orthodoxy — which  was  completed  by  his  "dashing  attack  on  Mr. 
Gladstone." 


From  the  EDINBURGH  EVENING  C  OUR  ANT. 

This  '  Hal  o'  the  Wynd,'  who  has  fought  hitherto  for  the  cause  of  a  consistent 
orthodoxy,  and  is  now,  in  the  book  before  us,  forced  to  fight  '  for  his  ain  hand.' 
Mr.  Brewin  Grant  and  all  his  brethren  may  suffer  from  every  possible  evil  which 
a  prejudiced  Presbytery  may,  under  malign  influences,  inflict,  while  neither  he 
nor  any  one  of  them  has  a  single  advantage,  such  as  trial  by  one's  peers,  appeal 
from  court  to  court,  and  fair  play  in  public  reports,  which  are  guaranteed  as 
the  most  elementary  advantages  of  Presbyterian  brotherhood.  The  book  has 
all  the  interest  which  we  always  feel  in  vigorous  personal  collisions,  especially 
when  in  the  record  of  these  we  find  questions  answered  and  points  cleared  up, 
regarding  which  the  ordinary  reader  of  the  newspapers  has  only  a  very  vague 
and  hazy  notion.  The  Congregational  Dissenters  are  handled  rather  roughly  in 
this  autobiography.  We  have  no  pleasure  in  seeing  any  large  and  respectable 
body  of  men,  especially  religious  men,  under  'such  unmerciful  mauling ;  but  it 
seems  to  be  the  only  means  of  redress  an  individual  has  in  the  body  where  Mr. 
Grant  has  had  a  standing  of  twenty-five  years.  We  promise  his  readers  a 
rich  treat. 


379 

From  THE  PUBLIC  OPINION. 
The  Dissenting  World:  An  Autobiography,  by  the  Rev.  Brewin  Grant, 
has  reached  a  second  [now  third]  edition.  In  it  the  author  makes  a  fearless, 
open,  and  straightforward  attack  upon  certain  practices  which  have  lately  obtain- 
ed among  Congregationalists,  and  the  exposure  here  made  tells  sadly  against 
them.      To  keligious  bodies,  whether  Dissenters  or  not,  this  volume 

WILL   BE    OF   MORE    THAN   ORDINARY   INTEREST." 

From  THE  3IORNING  ADVERTISER. 
"  It  is  a  work  that  cannot  fail  to  nutter  the  Volscians  of  the  Congregational 
world.  The  Rev.  Brewin  Grant,  of  Sheffield,  has  long  been  known  amongst  the 
Independent  portion  of  the  Nonconformist  denominations  for  his  ability  and  bold 
ness,  and  his  eminent  controversial  talents,  both  as  a  speaker  and  writer.'' 
"  Such  an  insight  into  the  secret  working  of  Congregationalism  as  will  create  no 
small  interest  in  the  religious  world.  The  work  is,  certainly,  a  racy  one — '  spicy' 
would  probably  be  a  better  term." 

From  THE  ROCK. 
"Avery  clever  and  caustic  exposure  of  the  worst  features  of  Dissent,  and 
the  less  scrupulous  editors  of  Dissenting  periodicals,  by  one  who  evidently  knows 
them  too  well." 

The  KELSO  MAIL  AND  GAZETTE  for  the  Counties  of  Roxburgh,  Selkirk, 
Berwick,  and  Northumberland. 
The  author  of  this  work,  a  minister  of  the  Congregational  body,  has  made 
some  noise  in  the  religious  world.  It  must  be  admitted  that  he  has  fought  with 
indomitable  energy.  A  giant  in  controversy,  his  autobiography  has  some 
pages  of  stirring  interest.  If  Mr.  Grant's  ex-parte  statements  are  to  be  taken 
as  correct,  The  English  Independent  must  be  as  great  an  anomaly  as  the  Scotch 
Free  Churchman.  The  author's  name  has  been  erased  from  the  roll  of 
the  Congregational  ministers  in  a  manner  which  would  have  done  no  discredit 
to  the  Holy  Inquisition.  We  wish  him  all  success,  and  meantime  assure  our 
readers  they  will  find  in  the  volume  he  has  written  much  entertainment. 

From  THE  CAERMARTHEN  JOURNAL. 
' '  The  Rev.  Brewin  Grant  has  done  signal  service  by  exhibiting  the  inner 
life  of  '  The  Dissenting  World.' "  "  The  book  deserves  a  wide  circulation." 
"Even  for  youth  it  provides  most  pleasant  reading.  It  illustrates  the  labours  of 
one  who  has  ever  evinced  a  love  of  truth  and  a  hatred  of  tyranny,  and  who  now 
casts  off  the  political  shackles  of  his  religious  brethren  from  pure  love  of 
country  and  Protestantism." 

From  the  ESSEX  AND  WEST  SUSSEX  GAZETTE. 
"  Mr.  Grant  is  a  remarkable  man,  and  his  eventful  career  is,  for  several 
reasons,  well  worth  recording.  We  admire  his  talents  and  his  fearlessness,  and 
sturdy  consistency  and  adherence  to  his  principles.  His  book  is  valuable  as  a 
description  of  the  training  and  experiences  of  a  Dissenting  Minister  of  more 
than  ordinary  intelligence.  We  purpose  to  make  extracts  from  it  from  time  to 
time.  Churchmen,  as  well  as  Dissenters,  ought  also  to  read  Mr.  Grant's  very  able 
pamphlet  entitled,  '  Gladstone,  and  Justice  to  Ireland.'  " 

From  the  KING'S  COUNTY  CHRONICLE. 
"  The  revelations  made  as  to  the  working  of  the  Congregational  Union,  in 
this  volume,  will  at  once  show  how  inapplicable  such  a  system  would  be  to  the 


380 

conditions  of  society  in  Ireland,  even  with  the  assistance  of  Mr.  Gladstone's 
'church  body.'  "We  are  thankful  to  Mr.  Grant  for  his  exertions  in  favour  of  a 
persecuted  church,  although  he  has  reaped  the  reward  of  being  persecuted  him- 
self. The  Autobiography  commences  with  the  boyhood  of  the  author,  and 
brings  us  through  his  college  career,  when  he  evinced  that  independence  of 
disposition,  and  energy,  which  has  characterised  him  through  life." 

From  the  INQUIRER.     (A   Unitarian  Organ.) 

"  Mr.  Brewin  Grant  is  not  a  person  with  whom  we  can  feel  any  particular 
interest.  He  is  diametrically  opposed  to  us  in  theological  opinioiix,  represent- 
ing that  narrow,  hard,  and  dogged  orthodoxy,  of  which  the  late  Dr.  Campbell, 
of  the  British  Standard  was  the  hierophant.  Like  bis  great  chieftain,  he  is  a 
redoubtable  malleus  hereticorum;  wages  fierce  warfare  against  'the  three  R.'s' — 
Romanism,  Eitualism,  and  Rationalism.  It  is  clear  that  he  still  professes  to 
he  a  Congregational  minister;  equally  clear  that  the  Year-Book,  like  our  own 
Unitarian  Almanack,  comprises  the  names  of  both  settled  and  unsettled  ministers." 
"  We  cannot  help  feeling  a  little  sympathy  with  him.  We  hope  he  will  come  off 
the  victor  in  the  approaching  contest"   [with  the  Congregational  Union.] 

"  Mr.  Grant's  amusing  sketches  of  his  college  life,  both  at  Highbury  and  at 
Glasgow,  will  be  interesting  to  old  students." 

"In  Mr.  Grant's  contests  with  the  Secularists"  "his  ready  wit  seems  to 
have  silenced  many  of  the  usual  captious  objections  of  his  opponents.  One  of 
his  audience  at  Sheffield  having  asked  the  usual  infidel  question :  Does  Mr. 
Grant  believe  that  Balaam's  ass  spoke?"  he  replied,  "Why  skouldn"t  I  ?  It 
might  have  been  a  miracle  in  those  times  ;  but  it  is  very  common  now-a-days." 

"Notwithstanding  our  essential  differences  from  Mr.  Grant,  we  close  his 
book  with  a  kindly  feeling  towards  him." 

From  the  BATH  CHRONICLE. 
"  The  volume  has  made  so  much  stir  in  the  English  Nonconformist  world, 
and  has  brought  the  writer  so  prominently  before  the  English  public,  that  but 
few  of  our  readers  can  need  to  be  informed  of  its  existence.  The  book  has  a  more 
permanent  interest  than  that  which  relates  to  the  author's  share  in  the  Irish 
Church  controversy.     Mr.  Grant's  book  is  most  important," 

From  the  YORKSHIRE  POST  AND  LEEDS  INTELLIGENCER. 

"  The  Rev.  Brewin  Grant  has  achieved  a  reputation,  which  extends  far 
beyond  the  denomination  to  which  he  belongs,  for  his  energetic  labours  in  his 
vocation,  and  his  fearless  denunciation  of  rationalism  and  sacerdotalism,  which, 
in  mysterious  concert  and  with  renewed  vigour,  are  assailing  in  these  days, 
from  opposite  quarters,  the  simplicity  of  the  Christian  religion.  For  a  quarter 
of  a  century  he  has  laboured  in  the  ministry  of  the  Congregational  body,  with  a 
zeal  and  ability  which,  had  they  been  combined  with  a  due  regard  of  sycophancy, 
would  have  obtained  for  him  a  commanding  position  among  the  leaders  of  that 
denomination.  But  unfortunately  for  Mr.  Grant,  there  is  nothing  so  offensive 
to  modern  Independency  as  independence.  Belief  in  Mr.  Gladstone  is  practically 
imposed  as  an  indispensable  article  of  faith  on  all  who  minister  in  their  pulpits. 
Disloyalty  to  that  sacred  name  is  treated  as  an  unpardonable  sin,  drawing  after 
it  ministerial  deposition  and  secret  excommunication." 

"  Mr.  Grant's  work  will  be  welcome  to  his  numerous  friends  as  a  record  of 
his  active  career,  and  will  be  useful  amongst  a  wider  cirrfe,  as  showing  how 
apt  ultra-Liberalism  is  to  degenerate  into  the  gror-scst  illiberality,  and  how 
ecclesiastical  tyranny  of  the  meanest  kind  can  indulge  its  malevolence  under  the 
cloak  of  evangelical  freedom." 


331 

From  the  EXETER  AND  PLYMOUTH  GAZETTE. 

"  To  a  large  section  of  the  community — indeed  to  two  or  three  sections — 
the  name  of  the  Eev.  Brewin  Grant  is  familiar.  In  the  first  place,  he  is  a  Congre- 
gationalist  Minister,  noted  for  considerable  ability  and  a  rare  facility  of  expres- 
sion in  the  pulpit  and  on  the  platform.  There  have  been  disputes  within  the 
Congregationalist  body  in  which  Mr.  Grant  has  been  ranged  on  one  side,  while 
such  men  of  mark  as  Newman  Hall,  Edward  Miall,  and  Thomas  Binney  have 
been  prominent  on  the  other."  "  He  upsets  them,  routs  them,  and  disturbs 
tbe  common-place  placidity  of  their  lives.  'Can't  you  let  it  alone?'  is  the 
ordinary  sentiment  about  a  good  many  troublesome  subjects.  Now  Mr.  Grant 
cannot  '  let  it  alone'     He  will  make  no  sacrifice  for  a  quiet  lite." 

"  Something  more  than  a  year  ago  he  found  that  Protestantism  was  being 
undermined  by  the  Romish  Church  and  the  extreme  Bitualists,  and  he  deter- 
mined to  resign  his  living,  and  to  go  on  a  crusade  against  these  enemies,  as  he 
had  gone  fifteen  years  before  on  a  crusade  against  Secularism.  But  there  was 
something  more.  His  inquiries  led  him,  as  they  would  any  impartial  investigator, 
to  the  conclusion  that  there  was  a  close  connection  between  the  secret  warfare 
against  Protestantism  and  the  movement  for  the  disestablishment  and  disen- 
dowment  of  the  Irish  Church."  "  Thereupon  Mr.  Grant  became  an  ardent  opponent 
of  Mr.  Gladstone's  Irish  Church  scheme.  But  in  the  Congregationalist  body 
this  was  heresy.  "What  was  to  be  done  ?  Why  the  Bev.  Brewin  Grant  has  been 
made  an  outcast  of  the  sect.  His  name  has  been  struck  off  the  list  of  ministers 
in  the  most  arbitrary  possible  manner.  No  charge  has  been  made.  He  has 
never  been  called  upon  for  an  explanation,  and  the  committee  have  refused  to 
explain;  but  his  name  has  been  quietly  erased  from  the  Year  Book.  Anything 
so  monstrous  and  so  inexcusable  we  never  read  of  in  the  history  of  ecclesiastical 
polity  or  Church  government.  It  is  the  crowning  instance  of  the  Liberal 
intolerance  of  which  we  have  read  so  many  examples  of  late.  Dissenters  and 
Churchmen,  Liberals  and  Tories  alike  should  read  the  book.  His 
autobiography  is  very  frank.  All  must  agree  that  he  is  an  honest,  able,  zealous 
man,  and  a  faithful  minister  of  Protestant  Christianity." 

From  the    WILTS    AND    GLOUCESTERSHIRE   STANDARD. 

"  Mr.  Grant  writes  as  one  who  being  a  Dissenter  in  heart  as  well  as  in 
profession,  is  very  jealous  for  the  honour  of  Dissent,  and  wishes  to  remove  from 
it  a  crying  evil,  which  mars  its  usefulness,  tarnishes  its  honour,  and  cripples  its 
power.  "He  is  as  loyal  to  Nonconformity  as  ever  he  was  ;  and  it  is  to  his  brother 
Nonconformists,  particularly  those  of  his  own  sect,  that  he  addresses  his  book  ; 
which  should  be  read  by  the  members  as  well  as  the  ministers  of 
evert  Dissenting  body  in  the  kingdom. 

From  the  SHREWSBURY  JOURNAL . 

"  TVe  have  never  seen  Dissent  so  completely  turned  inside  out,  as  in  this 
able  book." 

,;  For  being  so  outspoken  and  politically  independent,  the  (officials  of  the) 
religious  body  of  which  Mr.  Grant  has  been  so  long  a  distinguished  member, 
attempted  to  put  him  down  and  altogether  extinguish*  him.  The  attempt  has 
failed,  as  is  well  known.  We  recommend  Mr.  Grant's  interesting  volume  to  our 
readers." 

*':  Extinguish  him.:' — N.B.  In  1866,  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Union 
Committee  announced  on  the  placard  of  his  paper — '  The  Eev.  Brewin  Grant 


extinguished."  In  1869,  the  so-called  Christian  World  put  the  same  announce- 
ment on  its  placards  :  probably  in  a  few  more  years  he  may  be  "extinguished  " 
again ! 

From  the  STAFFORDSHIRE  SENTINEL.  (A  Liberal  Organ.) 
"  At  the  instigation  of  the  Eev.  J.  A.  James,  he  entered  on  a  crusade"  "  in 
which  he  did  signal  service  to  the  cause  of  Christianity."  "  He  has  unfortunately" 
taken  "  a  position  of  antagonism"  to  leading  men  of  his  sect.  "  The  statements, 
however,  (being  founded  en  "  letters,")  we  may  assume  to  be  correct."  "  His 
present  isolation  from  his  own  denomination  appears  to  have  arisen  chiefly  from 
his  erratic  course  againt  Mr.  Gladstone's  Irish  Church  policy."  "  Such  a  book 
cannot  well  be  matched."  "  Charity  would  have  witheld  it  from  the  world." 
From  the  CARLISLE  PATRIOT. 
"  A  curious  and  most  interesting  book,  the  moral  of  which  is  that  the 
Independent  body  (the  most  pronounced  political  section  of  Dissenters)  will 
tolerate  no  species  of  Independence  which  they  have  the  means  of  crushing. 
Mr.  Grant  was  for  25  years  a  distinguished  minister  of  that  persuasion  ;  but  last 
year  he  ventured  to  oppose  Mr.  Gladstone's  Irish  Church  policy,  as  inimical  to 
the  best  interests  of  Protestantism  ;  and  for  that  reason  the  wire-pullers  of  the 
body  executed  him  ministerially, — that  is,  with  a  paltry  meanness  unparalleled, 
they  omitted  his  name  from  the  official  list  of  ministers  for  1869,  which  is 
tantamount  to  unfrocking  him.  If  this  Dissenting  inquisition  had  their  way, 
they  would  rival  Hildebrand  in  intolerance,  if  not  in  genius.  We  commend 
Mr.  Grant's  autobiography  to  all  those  who  wish,  inferentially,  to  know  the 
value  of  a  State  Church." 

From  the  CHURCH  OPINION. 

"  An  extraordinary  book,  brimful  of  matter  of  a  readable  and  novel  kind.  It 
seems  a  genuine  autobiography ;  incidents  in  Mr.  Grant's  earlier  career  being 
related,  unimportant  in  themselves  perhaps,  and  yet  greatly  adding  to  the  value 
of  the  book  as  the  authentic  record  of  a  man's  life, — a  bold  and  a  brave  man 
too,  as  he  has  had  the  hardihood  and  courage  to  stand  up  against  the  community 
of  which  he  was,  and  still  is,  a  minister. 

"  No  such  book  as  this  has  been  published  for  many  years — not  since  Mr. 
Frazer  published  "  My  Life,"  "  Your  Life,"  &c,  Those  books  were  avowedly 
fictions,  based  on  fact  perhaps,  but  this  is  said  to  be  fact  throughout.  Places 
are  referred  to,  dates  are  given,  names  are  added,  so  that  verification  is  possible 
and  easy.  "We  have  Mr.  Grant's  early  training,  his  going  to  college,  then  to 
Glasgow  University,  his  seeking  a  settlement,  his  removal  to  Birmingham,  his 
discussion  with  Mr.  Holyoake,  the  Rivulet  controversy,  his  settlement  at  Sheffield, 
&c,  &c,  down  to  the  present  time,  shewing  that  in  all  matters  that  came  before 
him  Mr.  Grant  has  taken  no  unimportant  part." 

"  The  entire  book  is  very  amusing  and  even  entertaining,  and  will  be  read 
by  all  those  icho  wish  to  know  something  of  the  inner  life  of  Nonconformity. 
When  a  third  edition  is  demanded,  we  would  suggest  that  it  should  be  better 
printed  and  bound — even  if  that  would  entail  a  slight  increase  of  price  ;  we  think 
it  destined  to  become  very  popular — the  life  it  depicts  being  so  new  and 

STKANGE  TO  MANY  OF  US." 


N.B. — The  English  Independent  declined  to  advertise  the  above. 


PAWSON  AND  BRAILSFORD,  PRINTERS,  HIGH-ST.  AND  MULBERRT-ST.,  SHEFFIELD. 


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